A death pheromone, oleic acid, triggers hygienic behavior in honey bees (Apis mellifera L.)

Eusocial insects live in teeming societies with thousands of their kin. In this crowded environment, workers combat disease by removing or burying their dead or diseased nestmates. For honey bees, we found that hygienic brood-removal behavior is triggered by two odorants – β-ocimene and oleic acid – which are released from brood upon freeze-killing. β-ocimene is a co-opted pheromone that normally signals larval food-begging, whereas oleic acid is a conserved necromone across arthropod taxa. Interestingly, the odorant blend can induce hygienic behavior more consistently than either odorant alone. We suggest that the volatile β-ocimene flags hygienic workers’ attention, while oleic acid is the death cue, triggering removal. Bees with high hygienicity detect and remove brood with these odorants faster than bees with low hygienicity, and both molecules are strong ligands for hygienic behavior-associated odorant binding proteins (OBP16 and OBP18). Odorants that induce low levels of hygienic behavior, however, are weak ligands for these OBPs. We are therefore beginning to paint a picture of the molecular mechanism behind this complex behavior, using odorants associated with freeze-killed brood as a model.

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A death pheromone, oleic acid, triggers hygienic behavior in honey bees (Apis mellifera L.)

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-018-24054-2 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

Alison McAfee ◽

Abigail Chapman ◽

Immacolata Iovinella ◽

Ylonna Gallagher-Kurtzke ◽

Troy F. Collins ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Oleic Acid ◽

Apis Mellifera ◽

Honey Bees ◽

Hygienic Behavior

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Faculty Opinions recommendation of A death pheromone, oleic acid, triggers hygienic behavior in honey bees (Apis mellifera L.).

Faculty Opinions – Post-Publication Peer Review of the Biomedical Literature ◽

10.3410/f.733025072.793545043 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Martin Giurfa

Keyword(s):

Oleic Acid ◽

Apis Mellifera ◽

Honey Bees ◽

Hygienic Behavior

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Genome-wide survey of odorant-binding proteins in the dwarf honey bee Apis florea

10.1101/2021.02.25.432941 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Bhavika Mam ◽

Snehal Karpe ◽

Ramanathan Sowdhamini

Keyword(s):

Honey Bee ◽

Binding Proteins ◽

Odorant Receptors ◽

Apis Florea ◽

Odor Coding ◽

Complex Behaviour ◽

Odorant Binding Proteins ◽

Eusocial Insects ◽

Genome Wide ◽

Odorant Binding

AbstractOdorant binding proteins (OBPs) in insects bind to volatile chemical cue and help in their binding to odorant receptors. The odor coding hypothesis states that OBPs may bind with specificity to certain volatiles and aid the insect in various behaviours. Honeybees are eusocial insects with complex behaviour that requires olfactory inputs. Here, we have identified and annotated odorant binding proteins from the genome of the dwarf honey bee, Apis florea using an exhaustive homology-based bioinformatic pipeline and analyzed the evolutionary relationships between the OBP subfamilies. Our study suggests that Minus-C subfamily may have diverged from the Classic subfamily of odorant binding proteins in insects.

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The ectoparasite mite Varroa destructor Anderson and Trueman in southeastern Brazil apiaries: effects of the hygienic behavior of Africanized honey bees on infestation rates

Arquivo Brasileiro de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia ◽

10.1590/s0102-09352012000500017 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 64 (5) ◽

pp. 1194-1199 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

F.A. Pinto ◽

A. Puker ◽

L.M.R.C. Barreto ◽

D. Message

Keyword(s):

Apis Mellifera ◽

Honey Bees ◽

Varroa Destructor ◽

Mite Infestation ◽

Southeastern Brazil ◽

Hygienic Behavior ◽

Africanized Honey Bees ◽

Average Value ◽

Low Levels ◽

Research Show

In Brazil, the ectoparasitic mite of bees Varroa destructor Anderson and Trueman (Acari: Varroidae) remains at low levels of infestation causing no major damage. However, with the introduction and possible dominance of a new haplotype (K) of the mite, usually found in areas with high infestation rates (IR), it is necessary to monitor and select beehives that are resistant to the pest in order to avoid future problems. Several factors are listed as potentially being responsible for the dynamics of mite infestation, among which hygienic behavior (HB) stands out. In this context we sought to evaluate the HB of Africanized honey bees Apis mellifera L. (Hymenoptera: Apidae) compared with the mite IR in apiaries of two municipalities of southeastern Brazil (Taubaté and Viçosa). For the municipality of Taubaté, the average IR was 4.9% (3.4 to 5.8%), while the HB averaged 98.6% (96 to 100%). In Viçosa, the average mite IR was found to be 10.0% (5.4 to 21.0%) with an average value for HB of 57.7% (0 to 79.0%). Results from this research show that IR and HB were negatively correlated (R = -0.9627, P<0.01), suggesting that hives with higher HB have lower IR.

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Molecular and functional characterization of buffalo nasal epithelial odorant binding proteins and their structural insights by in-silico and biochemical approach

10.1101/2020.09.17.301234 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Chidhambaram Manikkaraja ◽

Bhavika Mam ◽

Randhir Singh ◽

Balasubramanian Nagarathnam ◽

Geen George ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Oleic Acid ◽

In Silico ◽

Binding Proteins ◽

Functional Characterization ◽

Site Directed Mutagenesis ◽

Nasal Epithelium ◽

Binding Affinities ◽

Odorant Binding Proteins ◽

Strong Binding ◽

Odorant Binding

AbstractThe olfactory system is capable of detecting and distinguishing thousands of environmental odorants that play a key role in reproduction, social behaviours including pheromones influenced classical events. Membrane secretary odorant binding proteins (OBPs) are soluble lipocalins, localized in the nasal membrane of mammals. They bind and carry odorants within the nasal epithelium to putative olfactory transmembrane receptors (ORs). While the existence of OBPs and their significant functions are very well known in insects and laboratory mammals, there is little information about the species-specific OBPs in buffaloes. In fact, the OBP of nasal epithelium has not yet been exploited to develop a suitable technique to detect estrus which is being reported as a difficult task in buffalo. In the present study, using molecular biology and protein engineering approaches, we have cloned six novel OBP isoforms from buffalo nasal epithelium (bnOBPs). Furthermore, 3D model was developed and molecular-docking, dynamics experiments were performed by In-silico approach. In particular, we found four residues (Phe104, Phe134, Phe69 and Asn118) from OBP1a, which had strong binding affinities towards two sex pheromones, specifically oleic acid and p-cresol. We expressed this protein in Escherichia coli to examine its involvement in the sex pheromone perception from female buffalo urine and validated through fluorescence quenching studies. Interestingly, fluorescence binding experiments also showed similar strong binding affinities of OBP1a to oleic acid and p-cresol. By using structural data, the binding specificity is also verified by site-directed mutagenesis of the four residues followed by in-vitro binding assays. Our results enable to better understand the functions of different nasal epithelium OBPs in buffaloes. They also lead to improved understanding of the interaction between olfactory proteins and odorants to develop highly selective biosensing devices for non-invasive detection of estrus in buffaloes.

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