The hypopharyngeal glands (HPGs) of worker honeybees undergo physiological 
changes along with the age-dependent role change from nursing to foraging: nurse 
bee HPGs secrete mainly major royal jelly proteins, whereas forager HPGs secrete 
mainly α-glucosidase III, which converts the sucrose in the nectar into glucose 
and fructose. We previously identified two other genes, Apis mellifera buffy 
(Ambuffy) and Apis mellifera matrix metalloproteinase 1 (AmMMP1), with enriched 
expression in nurse bee and forager HPGs, respectively. In the present study, to 
clarify the molecular mechanisms that coordinate HPG physiology with worker 
behavior, we first analyzed whether Ambuffy, AmMMP1, mrjp2 (a gene encoding one 
of major royal jelly protein isoforms), and Hbg3 (a gene encoding α-glucosidase 
III) expression, is associated with worker behavior in 'single-cohort colonies' 
where workers of almost the same age perform different tasks. Expression of 
these genes correlated with the worker's role, while controlling for age, 
indicating their regulation associated with the worker's behavior. Associated 
gene expression suggested the possible involvement of some hormonal factors in 
its regulation. We therefore examined the relationship between ecdysone- and 
juvenile hormone (JH)-signaling, and the expression profiles of these 
'indicator' genes (nurse bee HPG-selective genes: mrjp2 and Ambuffy, and forager 
HPG-selective genes: Hbg3 and AmMMP1). Expression of both ecdysone-regulated 
genes (ecdysone receptor, mushroom body large type Kenyon cell specific 
protein-1, and E74) and JH-regulated genes (Methoprene tolerant and Krüppel 
homolog 1) was higher in the forager HPGs than in the nurse bee HPGs, suggesting 
the possible roles of ecdysone- and JH-regulated genes in worker HPGs. 
Furthermore, 20-hydroxyecdysone-treatment repressed both nurse bee- and 
forager-selective gene expression, whereas methoprene-treatment enhanced the 
expression of forager-selective genes and repressed nurse bee-selective genes in 
the HPGs. Our findings suggest that both ecdysone- and JH-signaling 
cooperatively regulate the physiological state of the HPGs in association with 
the worker's behavior.