scholarly journals MALDI–MS Profiling to Address Honey Bee Health Status under Bacterial Challenge through Computational Modeling

PROTEOMICS ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (23) ◽  
pp. 1900268
Author(s):  
Karim Arafah ◽  
Sébastien Nicolas Voisin ◽  
Victor Masson ◽  
Cédric Alaux ◽  
Yves Le Conte ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Status ◽  
Computational Modeling ◽  
Honey Bee ◽  
Maldi Ms ◽  
Bacterial Challenge ◽  
Bee Health ◽  
Honey Bee Health

scholarly journals A MALDI-MS biotyping-like method to address honey bee health status through computational modelling

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karim Arafah ◽  
Sébastien Nicolas Voisin ◽  
Victor Masson ◽  
Cédric Alaux ◽  
Yves Le Conte ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Status ◽  
Molecular Mass ◽  
Honey Bee ◽  
Predictive Score ◽  
Major Protein ◽  
Plant Biodiversity ◽  
Wild Bees ◽  
Important Species ◽  
Bee Health ◽  
Honey Bee Health

AbstractAmong pollinator insects, bees undoubtedly account for the most important species. They play a critical role in boosting reproduction of wild and commercial plants and therefore contribute to the maintenance of plant biodiversity and sustainability of food webs. In the last few decades, domesticated and wild bees have been subjected to biotic and abiotic threats, alone or in combination, causing various health disorders. Therefore, monitoring solutions to improve bee health are increasingly necessary. MALDI mass spectrometry has emerged within this decade as a powerful technology to biotype micro-organisms. This method is currently and routinely used in clinical diagnosis where molecular mass fingerprints corresponding to major protein signatures are matched against databases for real-time identification. Based on this strategy, we developed MALDI BeeTyping as a proof of concept to monitor significant hemolymph molecular changes in honey bees upon infection with a series of entomopathogenic Gram-positive and -negative bacteria. ASerratia marcescensstrain isolated from one “naturally” infected honey bee collected from the field was also considered. We performed a series of individually recorded hemolymph molecular mass fingerprints and built, to our knowledge, the first computational model made of nine molecular signatures with a predictive score of 97.92%. Hence, we challenged our model by classifying a training set of individual bees’ hemolymph and obtained overall recognition of 91.93%. Through this work, we aimed at introducing a novel, realistic, and time-saving high-throughput biotyping-like strategy that addresses honey bee health in infectious conditions and on an individual scale through direct “blood tests”.Significance StatementDomesticated and wild bees worldwide represent the most active and valuable pollinators that ensure plant biodiversity and the success of many crops. These pollinators and others are exposed to deleterious pathogens and environmental stressors. Despite efforts to better understand how these threats affect honey bee health status, solutions are still crucially needed to help beekeepers, scientists and stakeholders in obtaining either a prognosis, an early diagnosis or a diagnosis of the health status of the apiaries. In this study, we describe a new method to investigate honey bee health by a simple “blood test” using fingerprints of some peptides/proteins as health status signatures. By computer modelling, we automated the identification of infected bees with a predictive score of 97.92%.

scholarly journals Soundscape Indices: New Features for Classifying Beehive Audio Samples

Sociobiology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 67 (4) ◽  
pp. 566
Author(s):  
Muhammad Zahid Sharif ◽  
Fernando Wario ◽  
Nayan Di ◽  
Renjie Xue ◽  
Fanglin Liu
Keyword(s):  
Health Status ◽  
Honey Bee ◽  
Acoustic Response ◽  
Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficients ◽  
Feature Sets ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Signal Features ◽  
Bee Health ◽  
Honey Bee Health ◽  
Acoustic Diversity

As the study of honey bee health has gained attention in the biology community, researchers have looked for new, non-invasive methods to monitor the health status of the colony. Since the beehive sound alters when the colony is exposed to stressors, analysis of the acoustic response of the colony has been used as a method to identify the type of stressor, whether it is chemical, pest, or disease. So far, two feature sets have been successfully used for this kind of analysis, being these low-level signal features and Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficients (MFCC). Here we propose using soundscape indices, developed initially to delineate acoustic diversity in ecosystems, as an alternative to now used features. In our study, we examine the beehive acoustic response to trichloromethane laced-air and blank air and compare the performance of all three feature sets to discern the colony's sound between the hive being exposed to the chemical and not. Our results show that sound indices overperform the alternative features sets on this task. Based on these findings, we consider sound indices to be a valid set of features for beehive sound analysis and present our results to call the attention of the community on this fact.

scholarly journals Impact of Chronic Exposure to Sublethal Doses of Glyphosate on Honey Bee Immunity, Gut Microbiota and Infection by Pathogens

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 845
Author(s):  
Loreley Castelli ◽  
Sofía Balbuena ◽  
Belén Branchiccela ◽  
Pablo Zunino ◽  
Joanito Liberti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gut Microbiota ◽  
Honey Bee ◽  
Chronic Exposure ◽  
Pollination Services ◽  
Deformed Wing Virus ◽  
Immune Genes ◽  
Bee Health ◽  
Honey Bee Health ◽  
Sublethal Doses ◽  
The Impact

Glyphosate is the most used pesticide around the world. Although different studies have evidenced its negative effect on honey bees, including detrimental impacts on behavior, cognitive, sensory and developmental abilities, its use continues to grow. Recent studies have shown that it also alters the composition of the honey bee gut microbiota. In this study we explored the impact of chronic exposure to sublethal doses of glyphosate on the honey bee gut microbiota and its effects on the immune response, infection by Nosema ceranae and Deformed wing virus (DWV) and honey bee survival. Glyphosate combined with N. ceranae infection altered the structure and composition of the honey bee gut microbiota, for example by decreasing the relative abundance of the core members Snodgrassella alvi and Lactobacillus apis. Glyphosate increased the expression of some immune genes, possibly representing a physiological response to mitigate its negative effects. However, this response was not sufficient to maintain honey bee health, as glyphosate promoted the replication of DWV and decreased the expression of vitellogenin, which were accompanied by a reduced life span. Infection by N. ceranae also alters honey bee immunity although no synergistic effect with glyphosate was observed. These results corroborate previous findings suggesting deleterious effects of widespread use of glyphosate on honey bee health, and they contribute to elucidate the physiological mechanisms underlying a global decline of pollination services.

scholarly journals Correction to: Stakeholders’ views on sustaining honey bee health and beekeeping: the roles of ecological and social system drivers

2021 ◽  
Vol 36 (5) ◽  
pp. 1585-1585
Author(s):  
Mariia Fedoriak ◽  
Oleksandr Kulmanov ◽  
Alina Zhuk ◽  
Oleksandr Shkrobanets ◽  
Kateryna Tymchuk ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Honey Bee ◽  
Social System ◽  
Bee Health ◽  
Honey Bee Health

scholarly journals Comparing Survival of Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus Infection among Stocks of U.S. Honey Bees

Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 60
Author(s):  
Shilpi Bhatia ◽  
Saman S. Baral ◽  
Carlos Vega Melendez ◽  
Esmaeil Amiri ◽  
Olav Rueppell
Keyword(s):  
Honey Bee ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Virus Infections ◽  
Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus ◽  
Immune Genes ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Bee Health ◽  
Honey Bee Health ◽  
Survival Differences ◽  
Paralysis Virus

Among numerous viruses that infect honey bees (Apis mellifera), Israeli acute paralysis virus (IAPV) can be linked to severe honey bee health problems. Breeding for virus resistance may improve honey bee health. To evaluate the potential for this approach, we compared the survival of IAPV infection among stocks from the U.S. We complemented the survival analysis with a survey of existing viruses in these stocks and assessing constitutive and induced expression of immune genes. Worker offspring from selected queens in a common apiary were inoculated with IAPV by topical applications after emergence to assess subsequent survival. Differences among stocks were small compared to variation within stocks, indicating the potential for improving honey bee survival of virus infections in all stocks. A positive relation between worker survival and virus load among stocks further suggested that honey bees may be able to adapt to better cope with viruses, while our molecular studies indicate that toll-6 may be related to survival differences among virus-infected worker bees. Together, these findings highlight the importance of viruses in queen breeding operations and provide a promising starting point for the quest to improve honey bee health by selectively breeding stock to be better able to survive virus infections.

scholarly journals A current perspective on honey bee health

Apidologie ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 273-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marina D. Meixner ◽  
Yves Le Conte
Keyword(s):  
Honey Bee ◽  
Current Perspective ◽  
Bee Health ◽  
Honey Bee Health ◽  
A Current

scholarly journals Genomic Signatures of Honey Bee Association in an Acetic Acid Symbiont

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 1882-1894
Author(s):  
Eric A Smith ◽  
Irene L G Newton
Keyword(s):  
Honey Bee ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Food Stores ◽  
Genomic Changes ◽  
Eusocial Insects ◽  
Us Economy ◽  
Bee Health ◽  
Honey Bee Health ◽  
Honey Bee Queens

Abstract Recent declines in the health of the honey bee have startled researchers and lay people alike as honey bees are agriculture’s most important pollinator. Honey bees are important pollinators of many major crops and add billions of dollars annually to the US economy through their services. One factor that may influence colony health is the microbial community. Indeed, the honey bee worker digestive tract harbors a characteristic community of bee-specific microbes, and the composition of this community is known to impact honey bee health. However, the honey bee is a superorganism, a colony of eusocial insects with overlapping generations where nestmates cooperate, building a hive, gathering and storing food, and raising brood. In contrast to what is known regarding the honey bee worker gut microbiome, less is known of the microbes associated with developing brood, with food stores, and with the rest of the built hive environment. More recently, the microbe Bombella apis was identified as associated with nectar, with developing larvae, and with honey bee queens. This bacterium is related to flower-associated microbes such as Saccharibacter floricola and other species in the genus Saccharibacter, and initial phylogenetic analyses placed it as sister to these environmental bacteria. Here, we used comparative genomics of multiple honey bee-associated strains and the nectar-associated Saccharibacter to identify genomic changes that may be associated with the ecological transition to honey bee association. We identified several genomic differences in the honey bee-associated strains, including a complete CRISPR/Cas system. Many of the changes we note here are predicted to confer upon Bombella the ability to survive in royal jelly and defend themselves against mobile elements, including phages. Our results are a first step toward identifying potential function of this microbe in the honey bee superorganism.

scholarly journals Descriptive Analysis of the Varroa Non-Reproduction Trait in Honey Bee Colonies and Association with Other Traits Related to Varroa Resistance

Insects ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 492 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonia E. Eynard ◽  
Christina Sann ◽  
Benjamin Basso ◽  
Anne-Laure Guirao ◽  
Yves Le Conte ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Honey Bee ◽  
Empirical Bayes ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Colony Losses ◽  
Bee Colony ◽  
Bee Health ◽  
Honey Bee Health ◽  
Varroa Resistance ◽  
Resistance Traits

In the current context of worldwide honey bee colony losses, among which the varroa mite plays a major role, the hope to improve honey bee health lies in part in the breeding of varroa resistant colonies. To do so, methods used to evaluate varroa resistance need better understanding. Repeatability and correlations between traits such as mite non-reproduction (MNR), varroa sensitive hygiene (VSH), and hygienic behavior are poorly known, due to practical limitations and to their underlying complexity. We investigate (i) the variability, (ii) the repeatability of the MNR score, and (iii) its correlation with other resistance traits. To reduce the inherent variability of MNR scores, we propose to apply an empirical Bayes correction. In the short-term (ten days), MNR had a modest repeatability of 0.4, whereas in the long-term (a month), it had a low repeatability of 0.2, similar to other resistance traits. Within our dataset, there was no correlation between MNR and VSH. Although MNR is amongst the most popular varroa resistance estimates in field studies, its underlying complex mechanism is not fully understood. Its lack of correlation with better described resistance traits and low repeatability suggest that MNR needs to be interpreted cautiously, especially when used for selection.

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