scholarly journals Pollen Source Richness May Be a Poor Predictor of Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) Colony Growth

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cecylia M. Watrobska ◽  
Ana Ramos Rodrigues ◽  
Andres N. Arce ◽  
Jessica Clarke ◽  
Richard J. Gill
Keyword(s):  
Crude Protein ◽  
Protein Concentration ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Bombus Terrestris ◽  
Growth Dynamics ◽  
Colony Growth ◽  
Colony Development ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Daily Growth ◽  
Social Bees

Agricultural intensification has drastically altered foraging landscapes for bees, with large-scale crop monocultures associated with floral diversity loss. Research on bumblebees and honeybees has shown individuals feeding on pollen from a low richness of floral sources can experience negative impacts on health and longevity relative to higher pollen source richness of similar protein concentrations. Florally rich landscapes are thus generally assumed to better support social bees. Yet, little is known about whether the effects of reduced pollen source richness can be mitigated by feeding on pollen with higher crude protein concentration, and importantly how variation in diet affects whole colony growth, rearing decisions and sexual production. Studying queen-right bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) colonies, we monitored colony development under a polyfloral pollen diet or a monofloral pollen diet with 1.5–1.8 times higher crude protein concentration. Over 6 weeks, we found monofloral colonies performed better for all measures, with no apparent long-term effects on colony mass or worker production, and a higher number of pupae in monofloral colonies at the end of the experiment. Unexpectedly, polyfloral colonies showed higher mortality, and little evidence of any strategy to counteract the effects of reduced protein; with fewer and lower mass workers being reared, and males showing a similar trend. Our findings (i) provide well-needed daily growth dynamics of queenright colonies under varied diets, and (ii) support the view that pollen protein content in the foraging landscape rather than floral species richness per se is likely a key driver of colony health and success.

scholarly journals Pollen source richness may be a poor predictor of bumblebee colony growth

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cecylia M. Watrobska ◽  
Ana Ramos Rodrigues ◽  
Andres N. Arce ◽  
Jessica Clarke ◽  
Richard J. Gill
Keyword(s):  
Crude Protein ◽  
Protein Concentration ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Bombus Terrestris ◽  
Colony Growth ◽  
Colony Development ◽  
List Type ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Daily Growth ◽  
Social Bees

ABSTRACTAgricultural intensification has drastically altered foraging landscapes for bees, with large-scale crop monocultures associated with floral diversity loss.Research on bumblebees and honeybees has shown individuals feeding on pollen from a low richness of floral sources can experience negative impacts on health and longevity relative to higher pollen source richness of similar protein concentrations. Florally rich landscapes are thus generally assumed to better support social bees. Yet, little is known about whether the effects of reduced pollen source richness can be mitigated by feeding on pollen with higher crude protein concentration, and importantly how variation in diet affects whole colony growth, rearing decisions and sexual production.Studying queen-right bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) colonies, we monitored colony development under polyfloral pollen diet or monofloral pollen diet with 1.5-1.8 times higher crude protein concentration.Over six weeks, we found monofloral colonies performed better for all measures, with no apparent long-term effects on colony mass or worker production, and a higher number of pupae in monofloral colonies at the end of the experiment. Unexpectedly, polyfloral colonies showed higher mortality, and little evidence of any strategy to counteract the effects of reduced protein; with fewer and lower mass workers being reared, and males showing a similar trend.Our findings i) provide well-needed daily growth dynamics of queenright colonies under varied diets, and ii) support the view that pollen protein content in the foraging landscape rather than floral species richness per se is likely a key driver of colony success.

scholarly journals Data-driven multiscale modeling reveals the role of metabolic coupling for the spatio-temporal growth dynamics of yeast colonies

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jukka Intosalmi ◽  
Adrian C. Scott ◽  
Michelle Hays ◽  
Nicholas Flann ◽  
Olli Yli-Harja ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Data ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Growth Dynamics ◽  
Colony Growth ◽  
Data Driven ◽  
Coarse Grained ◽  
Colony Development ◽  
Intercellular Signaling ◽  
Metabolic Coupling ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background Multicellular entities like mammalian tissues or microbial biofilms typically exhibit complex spatial arrangements that are adapted to their specific functions or environments. These structures result from intercellular signaling as well as from the interaction with the environment that allow cells of the same genotype to differentiate into well-organized communities of diversified cells. Despite its importance, our understanding how this cell–cell and metabolic coupling lead to functionally optimized structures is still limited. Results Here, we present a data-driven spatial framework to computationally investigate the development of yeast colonies as such a multicellular structure in dependence on metabolic capacity. For this purpose, we first developed and parameterized a dynamic cell state and growth model for yeast based on on experimental data from homogeneous liquid media conditions. The inferred model is subsequently used in a spatially coarse-grained model for colony development to investigate the effect of metabolic coupling by calibrating spatial parameters from experimental time-course data of colony growth using state-of-the-art statistical techniques for model uncertainty and parameter estimations. The model is finally validated by independent experimental data of an alternative yeast strain with distinct metabolic characteristics and illustrates the impact of metabolic coupling for structure formation. Conclusions We introduce a novel model for yeast colony formation, present a statistical methodology for model calibration in a data-driven manner, and demonstrate how the established model can be used to generate predictions across scales by validation against independent measurements of genetically distinct yeast strains.

scholarly journals The Effects of Pollen Protein Content on Colony Development of the Bumblebee, Bombus Terrestris L.

2015 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Güney Hikmet Baloglu ◽  
Fehmi Gurel
Keyword(s):  
Protein Content ◽  
Crude Protein ◽  
Bombus Terrestris ◽  
Mass Rearing ◽  
Papaver Somniferum ◽  
Colony Development ◽  
Sinapis Arvensis ◽  
Sugar Syrup ◽  
Pollen Sources ◽  
Ad Libitum

Abstract The effects of pollen protein content on the colony development of Bombus terrestris were investigated by feeding queens and queenright colonies with four different pollen diets. We used three kinds of commercially available pure pollen (Cistus spp. 11.9%, Papaver somniferum 21.4%, and Sinapis arvensis 21.8% crude protein). We also used a mixture which was made up of equal weights of these pure pollens (18.4 % crude protein). All queens and colonies were fed with sugar syrup and pollen diets ad libitum (28 ± 1 ℃, 65 ± 5% RH). Until there were 50 workers reached, colonies fed with the Cistus pollen diet (167.4 ± 28.9 g) consumed significantly more pollen than colonies fed with the Papaver pollen diet (140.7 ± 15.7 g), the mixed pollen diet (136.2 ± 20.1 g) or colonies fed with the Sinapis pollen diet (132.4 ± 22.6 g). The date when there were 50 workers reached was approximately one week later in the colonies fed with the Cistus, and colonies fed with the Papaver diet than in the colonies fed with the Sinapis diet, and for colonies fed with the mixed pollen diets. Considering 8 tested criteria, the best performances were observed using the Sinapis, and using the mixed pollen diets. The lowest performances were observed using the Cistus pollen diet. Results showed that pollen sources play an important role in commercial bumblebee rearing. Results also showed that the polyfloral pollen diets are more suitable for mass rearing of bumblebees than the unifloral pollen diets.

Limited application of irrigation water does not affect the nutritive characteristics of lucerne

2014 ◽  
Vol 54 (10) ◽  
pp. 1635 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. E. Rogers ◽  
A. R. Lawson ◽  
S. Chandra ◽  
K. B. Kelly
Keyword(s):  
Water Supply ◽  
Irrigation Water ◽  
Crude Protein ◽  
Protein Concentration ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Irrigation Management ◽  
Irrigation Season ◽  
Large Scale Field ◽  
Limited Application

Lucerne (Medicago sativa) has not been a significant part of the feedbase of the Murray-Dairy Region of Australia. However, under future climate regimes, which are indicating an overall decline in rainfall as well as water available for irrigation of pastures, lucerne is emerging as a potential forage species because of its adaptability, productivity and resilience. A large-scale field experiment was conducted at Tatura, Victoria, Australia, over four years to determine the dry matter (DM) production and nutritive characteristics of lucerne under a range of limiting and non-limiting irrigation management practices. Nine irrigation treatments were imposed that ranged from full irrigation to no irrigation in either a single, or over consecutive, irrigation seasons. Plots were harvested using plant-based criteria over the irrigation season and DM production and nutritive characteristics were determined. DM production generally increased as the total water supply (irrigation plus rainfall plus changes in soil water) increased, with the fully irrigated treatments producing significantly more DM than the treatments where the irrigation water had been restricted. Mean annual DM digestibility concentration was 66% of DM and was not affected by treatment. Similarly, mean crude protein concentration, which was 22% of DM, was also not affected by treatment. There was no consistent effect of restricted irrigation on the neutral detergent fibre concentration of the lucerne plants. These results suggest that in seasons where irrigation is restricted because of limited water supply, the reduction in lucerne productivity is not associated with a penalty in forage nutritive characteristics, with lucerne able to provide sufficient nutrients to form a large proportion of the total diet for a high-producing dairy cow.

scholarly journals Using Temporally Resolved Floral Resource Maps to Explain Bumblebee Colony Performance in Agricultural Landscapes

Agronomy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 1993
Author(s):  
Philipp W. Eckerter ◽  
Lars Albus ◽  
Sharumathi Natarajan ◽  
Matthias Albrecht ◽  
Lolita Ammann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Bombus Terrestris ◽  
Colony Growth ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Wild Plants ◽  
Floral Resources ◽  
Colony Development ◽  
Pollination Services ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
Floral Resource

Wild bumblebees are key pollinators of crops and wild plants that rely on the continuous availability of floral resources. A better understanding of the spatio-temporal availability and use of floral food resources may help to promote bumblebees and their pollination services in agricultural landscapes. We placed colonies of Bombus terrestris L. in 24 agricultural landscapes with various degrees of floral resource availability and assessed different parameters of colony growth and fitness. We estimated pollen availability during different periods of colony development based on detailed information of the bumblebee pollen diet and the spatial distribution of the visited plant species. Total pollen availability did not significantly explain colony growth or fitness. However, when using habitat maps, the weight gain of colonies, the number of queen cells, and colony survival decreased with increasing distance from the forest. The better explanation of bumblebee performance by forest proximity than by (plant-inferred) pollen availability indicates that other functions of forests than pollen provision were important. The conservation of forests next to agricultural land might help to sustain high populations of these important wild pollinators and enhance their crop pollination services. Combining different mapping approaches might help to further disentangle complex relationships between B. terrestris and their environment in agricultural landscapes.

Supplementation of grass silage-based diets with small quantities of concentrates: strategies for allocating concentrate crude protein

1998 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Aston ◽  
W. J. Fisher ◽  
A. B. McAllan ◽  
M. S. Dhanoa ◽  
R. J. Dewhurst
Keyword(s):  
Crude Protein ◽  
Protein Concentration ◽  
Milk Protein ◽  
Dietary Treatment ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Treatment Groups ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Grass Silage ◽  
Milk Solids

AbstractFifty-five multiparous Holstein-Friesian cows were used to evaluate the short- and long-term effects of varying the crude protein (CP) content of concentrates offered at a low level (5 kg/day) along with ad libitum access to a high quality grass silage. Three dietary treatment groups in lactation weeks 4 to 22 received concentrates containing either 156 (L), 247 (M) or 338 (H) g CP per kg dry matter; from weeks 13 to 21, half of the L animals changed over to the H concentrate and vice versa so that there were five treatment groups (LL, LH, MM, HL and HH). Feeding M or H compared with L increased silage voluntary intakes (P <0·05) and the yields of milk (P <0·05), fat (P < 0·05) and protein (P < 0·01). Milk protein concentration increased with level of concentrate CP (P < 0·05). Pattern of concentrate CP supply (comparison ofLH, MM and HL) had no significant effect on intake or yields of milk and milk solids across the experiment (weeks 4 to 21), though cows gained less weight on treatment HL than on LH (P <0·05) or MM. Intake, milk and component yields were all markedly affected by a change in concentrate CP at week 13; there were positive effects of additional CP (LL v. LH) and negative effects of reduced CP (HH v. HL) on silage intake (P <0·05), as well as milk yield (P < 0·001), milk protein yield (P < 0·001) and milk protein concentration (P < 0·001). Responses to increased concentrate CP were of a similar magnitude in early and midlactation; extra concentrate CP can recover depressed yields and concentrations of milk protein in established lactation. Production responses to concentrate CP involved a concomitant increase in silage voluntary intake.

scholarly journals Planting of neonicotinoid-coated corn raises honey bee mortality and sets back colony development

PeerJ ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. e3670 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olivier Samson-Robert ◽  
Geneviève Labrie ◽  
Madeleine Chagnon ◽  
Valérie Fournier
Keyword(s):  
Honey Bee ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Colony Development ◽  
Seed Coating ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Colony Losses ◽  
Population Dynamic Model ◽  
Performance Development ◽  
Planting Season

Worldwide occurrences of honey bee colony losses have raised concerns about bee health and the sustainability of pollination-dependent crops. While multiple causal factors have been identified, seed coating with insecticides of the neonicotinoid family has been the focus of much discussion and research. Nonetheless, few studies have investigated the impacts of these insecticides under field conditions or in commercial beekeeping operations. Given that corn-seed coating constitutes the largest single use of neonicotinoid, our study compared honey bee mortality from commercial apiaries located in two different agricultural settings, i.e. corn-dominated areas and corn-free environments, during the corn planting season. Data was collected in 2012 and 2013 from 26 bee yards. Dead honey bees from five hives in each apiary were counted and collected, and samples were analyzed using a multi-residue LC-MS/MS method. Long-term effects on colony development were simulated based on a honey bee population dynamic model. Mortality survey showed that colonies located in a corn-dominated area had daily mortality counts 3.51 times those of colonies from corn crop-free sites. Chemical analyses revealed that honey bees were exposed to various agricultural pesticides during the corn planting season, but were primarily subjected to neonicotinoid compounds (54% of analysed samples contained clothianidin, and 31% contained both clothianidin and thiamethoxam). Performance development simulations performed on hive populations’ show that increased mortality during the corn planting season sets back colony development and bears contributions to collapse risk but, most of all, reduces the effectiveness and value of colonies for pollination services. Our results also have implications for the numerous large-scale and worldwide-cultivated crops that currently rely on pre-emptive use of neonicotinoid seed treatments.

Experiences With and Lessons Learned From Developing, Implementing, and Evaluating a Support Program for Older Hearing Aid Users and Their Communication Partners in the Hearing Aid Dispensing Setting

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (3S) ◽  
pp. 638-647 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janine F. J. Meijerink ◽  
Marieke Pronk ◽  
Sophia E. Kramer
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Hearing Aid ◽  
Critical Discussion ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Research Note ◽  
Support Program ◽  
Large Sample Size ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Communication Program ◽  
Communication Partners

Purpose The SUpport PRogram (SUPR) study was carried out in the context of a private academic partnership and is the first study to evaluate the long-term effects of a communication program (SUPR) for older hearing aid users and their communication partners on a large scale in a hearing aid dispensing setting. The purpose of this research note is to reflect on the lessons that we learned during the different development, implementation, and evaluation phases of the SUPR project. Procedure This research note describes the procedures that were followed during the different phases of the SUPR project and provides a critical discussion to describe the strengths and weaknesses of the approach taken. Conclusion This research note might provide researchers and intervention developers with useful insights as to how aural rehabilitation interventions, such as the SUPR, can be developed by incorporating the needs of the different stakeholders, evaluated by using a robust research design (including a large sample size and a longer term follow-up assessment), and implemented widely by collaborating with a private partner (hearing aid dispensing practice chain).

scholarly journals Author Correction: Efficient microbial colony growth dynamics quantification with ColTapp, an automated image analysis application

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian Bär ◽  
Mathilde Boumasmoud ◽  
Roger D. Kouyos ◽  
Annelies S. Zinkernagel ◽  
Clément Vulin
Keyword(s):  
Image Analysis ◽  
Growth Dynamics ◽  
Colony Growth ◽  
Automated Image Analysis ◽  
Analysis Application

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

scholarly journals Process Simulation and Techno-Economic Analysis of Large-Scale Bioproduction of Sweet Protein Thaumatin II

Foods ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 838
Author(s):  
Kirolos D. Kelada ◽  
Daniel Tusé ◽  
Yuri Gleba ◽  
Karen A. McDonald ◽  
Somen Nandi
Keyword(s):  
Economic Analysis ◽  
Process Simulation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Recombinant Expression ◽  
Molecular Farming ◽  
Consumer Preference ◽  
Production Method ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Adverse Health Effects ◽  
Sweet Proteins

There are currently worldwide efforts to reduce sugar intake due to the various adverse health effects linked with the overconsumption of sugars. Artificial sweeteners have been used as an alternative to nutritive sugars in numerous applications; however, their long-term effects on human health remain controversial. This led to a shift in consumer preference towards non-caloric sweeteners from natural sources. Thaumatins are a class of intensely sweet proteins found in arils of the fruits of the West-African plant Thaumatococcus daniellii. Thaumatins’ current production method through aqueous extraction from this plant and uncertainty of the harvest from tropical rainforests limits its supply while the demand is increasing. Despite successful recombinant expression of the protein in several organisms, no large-scale bioproduction facilities exist. We present preliminary process design, process simulation, and economic analysis for a large-scale (50 metric tons/year) production of a thaumatin II variant using several different molecular farming platforms.

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