scholarly journals Adipokinetic hormone (AKH), energy budget and their effect on feeding and gustatory processes of foraging honey bees

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriela de Brito Sanchez ◽  
Anna Expósito Muñoz ◽  
Li Chen ◽  
Weifone Huang ◽  
Songkun Su ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Budget ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Fat Body ◽  
Sucrose Solution ◽  
Loss Of Function ◽  
Original Function ◽  
Adipokinetic Hormone ◽  
Honey Bee Foragers ◽  
Different Doses

AbstractThe adipokinetic hormone (AKH) of insects is considered an equivalent of the mammalian hormone glucagon as it induces fast mobilization of carbohydrates and lipids from the fat body upon starvation. Yet, in foraging honey bees, which lack fat body storage for carbohydrates, it was suggested that AKH may have lost its original function. Here we manipulated the energy budget of bee foragers to determine the effect of AKH on appetitive responses. As AKH participates in a cascade leading to acceptance of unpalatable substances in starved Drosophila, we also assessed its effect on foragers presented with sucrose solution spiked with salicin. Starved and partially-fed bees were topically exposed with different doses of AKH to determine if this hormone modifies food ingestion and sucrose responsiveness. We found a significant effect of the energy budget (i.e. starved vs. partially-fed) on the decision to ingest or respond to both pure sucrose solution and sucrose solution spiked with salicin, but no effect of AKH per se. These results are consistent with a loss of function of AKH in honey bee foragers, in accordance with a social life that implies storing energy resources in the hive, in amounts that exceed individual needs.

scholarly journals Effect of yeast and essential oil-enriched diets on critical determinants of health and immune function in Africanized Apis mellifera

PeerJ ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. e12164
Author(s):  
César Canché-Collí ◽  
Humberto Estrella-Maldonado ◽  
Luis A. Medina-Medina ◽  
Humberto Moo-Valle ◽  
Luz Maria Calvo-Irabien ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Apis Mellifera ◽  
Food Intake ◽  
Essential Oils ◽  
Immune Function ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Fat Body ◽  
Control Diet ◽  
Starmerella Bombicola ◽  
Expression Of Genes ◽  
Brewers Yeast

Nutrition is vital for health and immune function in honey bees (Apis mellifera). The effect of diets enriched with bee-associated yeasts and essential oils of Mexican oregano (Lippia graveolens) was tested on survival, food intake, accumulated fat body tissue, and gene expression of vitellogenin (Vg), prophenoloxidase (proPO) and glucose oxidase (GOx) in newly emerged worker bees. The enriched diets were provided to bees under the premise that supplementation with yeasts or essential oils can enhance health variables and the expression of genes related to immune function in worker bees. Based on a standard pollen substitute, used as a control diet, enriched diets were formulated, five with added bee-associated yeasts (Starmerella bombicola, Starmerella etchellsii, Starmerella bombicola 2, Zygosaccharomyces mellis, and the brewers’ yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and three with added essential oils from L. graveolens (carvacrol, thymol, and sesquiterpenes). Groups of bees were fed one of the diets for 9 or 12 days. Survival probability was similar in the yeast and essential oils treatments in relation to the control, but median survival was lower in the carvacrol and sesquiterpenes treatments. Food intake was higher in all the yeast treatments than in the control. Fat body percentage in individual bees was slightly lower in all treatments than in the control, with significant decreases in the thymol and carvacrol treatments. Expression of the genes Vg, proPO, and GOx was minimally affected by the yeast treatments but was adversely affected by the carvacrol and thymol treatments.

scholarly journals Social Fever or General Immune Response? Revisiting an Example of Social Immunity in Honey Bees

Insects ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 528
Author(s):  
Michael Goblirsch ◽  
Jenny F. Warner ◽  
Brooke A. Sommerfeldt ◽  
Marla Spivak
Keyword(s):  
Immune Response ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Sucrose Solution ◽  
Temperature Sensitive ◽  
Social Immunity ◽  
Nest Temperature ◽  
Ascosphaera Apis ◽  
Response To Temperature ◽  
Brood Nest

Honey bees use several strategies to protect themselves and the colony from parasites and pathogens. In addition to individual immunity, social immunity involves the cumulative effort of some individuals to limit the spread of parasites and pathogens to uninfected nestmates. Examples of social immunity in honey bees that have received attention include hygienic behavior, or the removal of diseased brood, and the collection and deposition of antimicrobial resins (propolis) on interior nest surfaces. Advances in our understanding of another form of social immunity, social fever, are lacking. Honey bees were shown to raise the temperature of the nest in response to temperature-sensitive brood pathogen, Ascosphaera apis. The increase in nest temperature (−0.6 °C) is thought to limit the spread of A. apis infection to uninfected immatures. We established observation hives and monitored the temperature of the brood nest for 40 days. This observation period was broken into five distinct segments, corresponding to sucrose solution feedings—Pre-Feed, Feed I, Challenge, Feed II, and Post-Feed. Ascosphaera apis was administered to colonies as a 1% solution of ground sporulating chalkbrood mummies in 50% v/v sucrose solution, during the Challenge period. Like previous reports, we observed a modest increase in brood nest temperature during the Challenge period. However, all hives presented signs of chalkbrood disease, suggesting that elevation of the nest temperature was not sufficient to stop the spread of infection among immatures. We also began to explore the molecular mechanisms of temperature increase by exposing adult bees in cages to A. apis, without the presence of immatures. Compared to adult workers who were given sucrose solution only, workers exposed to A. apis showed increased expression of the antimicrobial peptides abaecin (p = 0.07) and hymenoptaecin (p = 0.04), but expression of the heat shock response protein Hsp 70Ab-like (p = 0.76) and the nutritional marker vitellogenin (p = 0.72) were unaffected. These results indicate that adult honey bee workers exposed to a brood pathogen elevate the temperature of the brood nest and initiate an immune response, but the effect of this fever on preventing disease requires further study.

scholarly journals Set of stress biomarkers as a practical tool in the assessment of multistress effect using honeybees from urban and rural areas as a model organism: a pilot study

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Łukasz Nicewicz ◽  
Agata W. Nicewicz ◽  
Alina Kafel ◽  
Mirosław Nakonieczny
Keyword(s):  
Heat Shock ◽  
Antioxidant Capacity ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Total Antioxidant Capacity ◽  
Fat Body ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Model Organism ◽  
Total Antioxidant ◽  
Urban And Rural Areas

Abstract A decrease among honey bee populations (Apis mellifera) in the traditional apiaries has been observed in recent years. In light of this negative phenomenon, urban beekeeping seems to be an appropriate alternative solution for the bee population in reducing the toxic effects of a large number of pesticides that are commonly used in agricultural ecosystems. Despite the rapid development of urban beekeeping, there is little information regarding the different aspects of the defense effectiveness of bees from the urban and rural areas. The study was aimed to show whether honey bees from these two locations differ in the level of the valuable biomarkers of stress exposure helpful in establishing which bees, from urban or rural areas, are under greater environmental pressure. For this purpose, foragers from an urban rooftop apiary and a traditional rural apiary were collected. The chosen biomarkers were measured in various tissues of bees. The activity of glutathione S-transferase and acetylcholinesterase, the level of total antioxidant capacity, heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70), and defensin were selected for the analyses. In our opinion, the Hsp70 and defensin levels seemed to be important in the indication of urban multistress factors. The higher level of heat shock proteins and defensins in tissues/organs of bees from the urban apiary—in the gut (an increase, respectively, 92% and 7.3%) and fat body (an increase, respectively, 130% and 7.8%), known as targets of environmental toxins, pointed out the urban environment as highly stressful at both the individual and colony levels. In turn, high total antioxidant capacity was measured in the guts of honey bees from rural area (an increase 107%). Such a situation suggests a different mechanism of defense and specificity of rural and urban environmental stressors and also honey bees foraging activity.

scholarly journals Longevity extension of worker honey bees (Apis mellifera) by royal jelly: optimal dose and active ingredient

PeerJ ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. e3118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenchao Yang ◽  
Yuanyuan Tian ◽  
Mingfeng Han ◽  
Xiaoqing Miao
Keyword(s):  
Apis Mellifera ◽  
Ammonium Sulfate ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Royal Jelly ◽  
Sucrose Solution ◽  
Ethanol Extract ◽  
Optimal Dose ◽  
Water Soluble ◽  
Main Component ◽  
Colony Productivity

In the Western honey bee, Apis mellifera, queens and workers have different longevity although they share the same genome. Queens consume royal jelly (RJ) as the main food throughout their life, including as adults, but workers only eat worker jelly when they are larvae less than 3 days old. In order to explore the effect of RJ and the components affecting longevity of worker honey bees, we first determined the optimal dose for prolonging longevity of workers as 4% RJ in 50% sucrose solution, and developed a method of obtaining long lived workers. We then compared the effects of longevity extension by RJ 4% with bee-collected pollen from rapeseed (Brassica napus). Lastly, we determined that a water soluble RJ protein obtained by precipitation with 60% ammonium sulfate (RJP60) contained the main component for longevity extension after comparing the effects of RJ crude protein extract (RJCP), RJP30 (obtained by precipitation with 30% ammonium sulfate), and RJ ethanol extract (RJEE). Understanding what regulates worker longevity has potential to help increase colony productivity and improve crop pollination efficiency.

scholarly journals Nutritional and prebiotic efficacy of the microalga Arthrospira platensis (spirulina) in honey bees

Apidologie ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (5) ◽  
pp. 898-910 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent A. Ricigliano ◽  
Michael Simone-Finstrom
Keyword(s):  
Honey Bees ◽  
Fat Body ◽  
Essential Amino Acids ◽  
Arthrospira Platensis ◽  
Mrna Levels ◽  
Pollen Feeding ◽  
Bee Health ◽  
Honey Bee Health ◽  
Head Protein ◽  
Central Storage

Abstract We evaluated the microalga Arthrospira platensis (commonly called spirulina), as a pollen substitute for honey bees. Nutritional analyses indicated that spirulina is rich in essential amino acids and a wide variety of functional lipids (i.e., phospholipids, polyunsaturated fatty acids, and sterols) common in pollen. Feeding bioassays were used to compare dry and fresh laboratory-grown spirulina with bee-collected pollen and a commercial pollen substitute using sucrose syrup as a control. Diets were fed ad libitum as a paste to newly emerged bees in cages (10–13 cage replicates) and bees were sampled at days 5 and 10 for physiological and molecular measurements. Spirulina diets produced biomarker profiles (thorax weight, head protein content, and beneficial gut bacteria abundance) that were indicative of elevated nutritional states, meeting or exceeding the other diets in some metrics despite reduced consumption. Furthermore, spirulina diets led to significantly increased fat body lipid content and mRNA levels of the central storage lipoprotein vitellogenin. We conclude that spirulina has significant potential as a pollen substitute or prebiotic diet additive to improve honey bee health.

Development of an Ethanol Model Using Social Insects: IV. Influence of Ethanol on the Aggression of Africanized Honey Bees (Apis Mellifera L.)

2004 ◽  
Vol 94 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1107-1115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles I. Abramson ◽  
Aaron J. Place ◽  
Italo S. Aquino ◽  
Andrea Fernandez
Keyword(s):  
Apis Mellifera ◽  
Social Insects ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Sucrose Solution ◽  
Ecological Validity ◽  
Ethanol Consumption ◽  
Ethanol Solution ◽  
Control Groups ◽  
Africanized Honey Bees ◽  
Unique Aspect

Experiments were designed to determine whether ethanol influenced aggression in honey bees. Two experiments are reported. In Exp. 1, harnessed honey bees were fed a 1%, 5%, 10%, or 20% ethanol solution. Two control groups received either a sucrose solution only or no pretreatment, respectively. The dependent variable was the number of sting extensions over 10 min. Analysis showed that aggression in harnessed bees was not influenced by prior ethanol consumption. Because there was some suspicion that the extension of the sting apparatus may be hindered by harnessing, and the authors wanted to use a design that increased ecological validity, Exp. 2 was conducted with free-flying bees. Sucrose or 20% ethanol solutions were placed in front of beehives, and the number of stings on a leather patch dangled in front of the hive served as the dependent variable. The experiment was terminated after 5 hr. because bees exposed to ethanol became dangerously aggressive. A unique aspect of the study was that Africanized honey bees were used.

scholarly journals Tissue-Specific Regulation of Drosophila NF-κB Pathway Activation by Peptidoglycan Recognition Protein SC

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denis Costechareyre ◽  
Florence Capo ◽  
Alexandre Fabre ◽  
Delphine Chaduli ◽  
Christine Kellenberger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fat Body ◽  
Bacterial Load ◽  
Negative Regulator ◽  
Loss Of Function ◽  
Peptidoglycan Recognition Protein ◽  
Imd Pathway ◽  
Pathway Activation ◽  
Recognition Protein ◽  
Specific Regulation

In Drosophila, peptidoglycan (PGN) is detected by PGN recognition proteins (PGRPs) that act as pattern recognition receptors. Some PGRPs such as PGRP-LB or PGRP-SCs are able to cleave PGN, therefore reducing the amount of immune elicitors and dampening immune deficiency (IMD) pathway activation. The precise role of PGRP-SC is less well defined because the PGRP-SC genes (PGRP-SC1a, PGRP-SC1b and PGRP-SC2) lie very close on the chromosome and have been studied using a deletion encompassing the three genes. By generating PGRP-SC-specific mutants, we reevaluated the roles of PGRP-LB, PGRP-SC1 and PGRP-SC2, respectively, during immune responses. We showed that these genes are expressed in different gut domains and that they follow distinct transcriptional regulation. Loss-of-function mutant analysis indicates that PGRP-LB is playing a major role in IMD pathway activation and bacterial load regulation in the gut, although PGRP-SCs are expressed at high levels in this organ. We also demonstrated that PGRP-SC2 is the main negative regulator of IMD pathway activation in the fat body. Accordingly, we showed that mutants for either PGRP-LB or PGRP-SC2 displayed a distinct susceptibility to bacteria depending on the infection route. Lastly, we demonstrated that PGRP-SC1 and PGRP-SC2 are required in vivo for full Toll pathway activation by Gram-positive bacteria.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document