Thelytoky
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Thelytoky is the reproduction of female workers or queens by laying worker bees. Thelytoky occurs in the Cape bee, Apis mellifera capensis and has been found in other strains at very low frequency.
Usually, unfertilized eggs are haploid containing only a single set of chromosomes (16) from the mother. Cape bee laying workers are capable of laying unfertilized diploid (32 chromosomes) eggs. These eggs undergo an unusual biological life cycle. One stage during meiosis is anaphase when the chromosomes separate. In parthenogenesis (the reproduction without male fertilization), anaphase is followed by fusion of two meiotic products to restore egg diploidy (the egg pronucleus and the central descendant of the first polar body fuse to form a diploid nucleus called zygote).
Depending on how the zygote (diploid egg) is fed it can develop into a worker bee or a queen bee.
Thelytoky can also refer to any obligatory parthenogenesis in other organisms.
