7. Functional genomics and xenobiotic treatment

7.1. Introduction

By analyzing the entire genome, researchers can explore intergenic relationships that extend beyond monogenic, individual polymorphisms. Recent developments in sequencing technology, combined with publicly available computational tools, have made it possible to glean a huge amount of information from these datasets. However, the challenge lies in our ability to fully interpret the data, particularly in cases where gene functions are either unknown or poorly characterized. In fact, approximately one third of A. mellifera genes fall into this category, posing limitations on our understanding of their roles and contributions.

This gap in functional knowledge can be filled by experimentally manipulating genes of interest to directly examine their contribution to a specific phenotype. Gene expression can be manipulated through changes to DNA (e.g. using CRISPR/Cas9 technology) or knockdowns of RNA (RNAi). These techniques can provide researchers with causal information about their phenotype of interest to go along with correlative data from genomic analysis. This is a necessary step for validating gene functions and gene interactions.