This is the first short news article written by students, during the professional development class of Spring 2025, about each other's research.
Student Spotlight: Ella Messner
By Kehinde Kolapo
A bumble bee colony is often seen as a model of harmony: workers tirelessly foraging, the queen laying eggs, and the colony thriving as a single unit. But beneath this facade lies a complex power struggle. At a certain point, worker bees begin to challenge the queen's reproductive monopoly, activating their ovaries and competing to lay eggs. Ella Messner, an M.Sc. student in Professor Etya Amsalem's lab, is determined to uncover the genetic mechanisms driving this competition.
"This research challenges the traditional view of colony unity," Ella explains. "We often think of social insect colonies as cooperative, but in reality, there's competition. In bumble bee colonies, workers and queens have conflicting interests, and we don't fully understand what triggers the workers to begin reproducing."
Ella's research focuses on a specific gene, neuroparsin A, which produces a protein-like hormone that regulates biological processes such as growth and reproduction, first discovered in locusts and recently linked to reproductive regulation in ants. Ella is investigating whether neuroparsin A plays a similar role in Bombus impatiens, the common eastern bumble bee. Previous research in the Amsalem lab found that neuroparsin A is expressed at higher levels in bumble bee workers in the presence of the queen relative to workers in her absence. Workers activate their ovaries and lay eggs in the absence of the queen and refrain from doing so in her presence. Ella's hypothesis is that neuroparsin A regulates ovary activation in worker bees. Using RNA interference (RNAi) techniques, she will experimentally reduce the expression of neuroparsin A in worker bees and observe whether this leads to ovary activation, even in the presence of the queen.
By dissecting bees, performing molecular analyses, and applying functional genomics, Ella hopes to bridge key knowledge gaps: What social and molecular signals prompt ovary activation in workers? What evolutionary advantages does this reproductive flexibility provide? Bumble bees are vital pollinators for both ecosystems and agriculture, yet their populations are in decline. Understanding the genetic and social factors that regulate reproduction could offer insights into colony resilience and conservation strategies.
"There's so much complexity and elegance in how these bees function," Ella says. "The dynamics within a colony are anything but linear, and every discovery adds a new layer to our understanding."
Looking ahead, Ella aims to extend her research in bumble bees to other bee species, including honey bees and solitary bees, to uncover broader evolutionary trends in reproductive regulation.
"After hundreds of years of research on bees, there is still so much we don't understand about their reproduction. That's what excites me."
Ella Messner is an M.Sc. student in Professor Etya Amsalem's research group in the Department of Entomology at Penn State. Ella’s research is supported by the Penn State Alex and Jesse Black Graduate Fellowship and funding from the National Science Foundation to Amsalem.
