scholarly journals Probing the Honey Bee Diet-Microbiota-Host Axis Using Pollen Restriction and Organic Acid Feeding

Insects ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 291
Author(s):  
Vincent A. Ricigliano ◽  
Kirk E. Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Organic Acid ◽  
Honey Bee ◽  
Expression Patterns ◽  
Feeding Behaviors ◽  
Fermentation Products ◽  
Bacterial Fermentation ◽  
Bee Health ◽  
Gene Transcripts ◽  
The Impact

Microbial metabolites are considered important drivers of diet-based microbiota influence on the host, however, mechanistic models are confounded by interactions between diet, microbiota function, and host physiology. The honey bee harbors a simple microbiota that produces organic acids as fermentation products of dietary nectar and pollen, making it a model for gut microbiota research. Herein, we demonstrate that bacterial abundance in the honey bee gut is partially associated with the anterior rectum epithelium. We used dietary pollen restriction and organic acid feeding treatments to obtain information about the role of undigested pollen as a microbiota growth substrate and the impact of bacterial fermentation products on honey bee enteroendocrine signaling. Pollen restriction markedly reduced total and specific bacterial 16S rRNA abundance in the anterior rectum but not in the ileum. Anterior rectum expression levels of bacterial fermentative enzyme gene transcripts (acetate kinase, lactate dehydrogenase, and hydroxybutyryl-CoA dehydrogenase) were reduced in association with diet-induced microbiota shifts. To evaluate the effects of fermentative metabolites on host enteroendocrine function, pollen-restricted bees were fed an equimolar mixture of organic acid sodium salts (acetate, lactate, butyrate, formate, and succinate). Organic acid feeding significantly impacted hindgut enteroendocrine signaling gene expression, rescuing some effects of pollen restriction. This was specifically manifested by tissue-dependent expression patterns of neuropeptide F and allatostatin pathways, which are implicated in energy metabolism and feeding behaviors. Our findings provide new insights into the diet-microbiota-host axis in honey bees and may inform future efforts to improve bee health through diet-based microbiota manipulations.

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 Alternative Splicing of Transcription Factors' Genes: Beyond the Increase of Proteome Diversity

2009 ◽  
Vol 2009 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Talavera ◽  
Modesto Orozco ◽  
Xavier de la Cruz
Keyword(s):  
Transcription Factors ◽  
Alternative Splicing ◽  
Expression Patterns ◽  
Developmental Changes ◽  
Functional Families ◽  
Transcription Regulators ◽  
Alternatively Spliced ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Human And Mouse

Functional modification of transcription regulators may lead to developmental changes and phenotypical differences between species. In this work, we study the influence of alternative splicing on transcription factors in human and mouse. Our results show that the impact of alternative splicing on transcription factors is similar in both species, meaning that the ways to increase variability should also be similar. However, when looking at the expression patterns of transcription factors, we observe that they tend to diverge regardless of the role of alternative splicing. Finally, we hypothesise that transcription regulation of alternatively spliced transcription factors could play an important role in the phenotypical differences between species, without discarding other phenomena or functional families.

scholarly journals Antibiotics in hives and their effects on honey bee physiology and behavioral development

Biology Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. bio053884 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yarira Ortiz-Alvarado ◽  
David R. Clark ◽  
Carlos J. Vega-Melendez ◽  
Zomary Flores-Cruz ◽  
Maria G. Domingez-Bello ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Honey Bee ◽  
Bacterial Infections ◽  
Fat Body ◽  
Age Of Onset ◽  
Antibiotic Use ◽  
Behavioral Development ◽  
Human Interventions ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
The Impact

ABSTRACTRecurrent honeybee losses make it critical to understand the impact of human interventions, such as antibiotic use in apiculture. Antibiotics are used to prevent or treat bacterial infections in colonies. However, little is known about their effects on honeybee development. We studied the effect of two commercial beekeeping antibiotics on the bee physiology and behavior throughout development. Our results show that antibiotic treatments have an effect on amount of lipids and rate of behavioral development. Lipid amount in treated bees was higher than those not treated. Also, the timing of antibiotic treatment had distinct effects for the age of onset of behaviors, starting with cleaning, then nursing and lastly foraging. Bees treated during larva-pupa stages demonstrated an accelerated behavioral development and loss of lipids, while bees treated from larva to adulthood had a delay in behavioral development and loss of lipids. The effects were shared across the two antibiotics tested, TerramycinR (oxytetracycline) and TylanR (tylosin tartrate). These effects of antibiotic treatments suggest a role of microbiota in the interaction between the fat body and brain that is important for honeybee behavioral development.This paper has an associated First Person interview with the first author of the article.

scholarly journals The Gut Microbiota Can Provide Viral Tolerance in the Honey Bee

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 871
Author(s):  
Christopher Dosch ◽  
Anja Manigk ◽  
Tabea Streicher ◽  
Anja Tehel ◽  
Robert J. Paxton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gut Microbiota ◽  
Honey Bee ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Positive Role ◽  
Viral Pathogen ◽  
Deformed Wing Virus ◽  
Bee Health ◽  
Honey Bee Health

Adult honey bees host a remarkably consistent gut microbial community that is thought to benefit host health and provide protection against parasites and pathogens. Currently, however, we lack experimental evidence for the causal role of the gut microbiota in protecting the Western honey bees (Apis mellifera) against their viral pathogens. Here we set out to fill this knowledge gap by investigating how the gut microbiota modulates the virulence of a major honey bee viral pathogen, deformed wing virus (DWV). We found that, upon oral virus exposure, honey bee survival was significantly increased in bees with an experimentally established normal gut microbiota compared to control bees with a perturbed (dysbiotic) gut microbiota. Interestingly, viral titers were similar in bees with normal gut microbiota and dysbiotic bees, pointing to higher viral tolerance in bees with normal gut microbiota. Taken together, our results provide evidence for a positive role of the gut microbiota for honey bee fitness upon viral infection. We hypothesize that environmental stressors altering honey bee gut microbiota composition, e.g., antibiotics in beekeeping or pesticides in modern agriculture, could interact synergistically with pathogens, leading to negative effects on honey bee health and the epidemiology and impact of their viruses.

Reduced Endometrial Ascension and Enhanced Reinfection Associated with IgG Antibodies to Specific Chlamydia trachomatis Proteins in Women at Risk for Chlamydia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chuwen Liu ◽  
Katrin Hufnagel ◽  
Catherine M O’Connell ◽  
Nilu Goonetilleke ◽  
Neha Mokashi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chlamydia Trachomatis ◽  
Transcript Abundance ◽  
Stepwise Logistic Regression ◽  
Gene Transcript ◽  
Igg Antibody ◽  
Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test ◽  
Gene Transcripts ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Incident Infection

Abstract Background Previous research revealed antibodies targeting Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) elementary bodies was not associated with reduced endometrial or incident infection in CT-exposed women. However, data on the role of CT protein-specific antibodies in protection are limited. Methods A whole-proteome CT array screening serum pools from CT-exposed women identified 121 immunoprevalent proteins. Individual sera were probed using a focused array. IgG antibody frequencies and endometrial or incident infection relationships were examined using Wilcoxon Rank sum test. The impact of breadth and magnitude of protein-specific IgGs on ascension and incident infection were examined using multivariable stepwise logistic regression. Complementary RNA-sequencing quantified CT gene transcripts in cervical swabs from infected women. Results IgG to Pgp3 and CT005 were associated with reduced endometrial infection; anti-CT443, -CT486 and -CT123 were associated with increased incident infection. Increased breadth of protein recognition did not however predict protection from endometrial or incident infection. mRNAs for immunoprevalent CT proteins were highly abundant in the cervix. Conclusions Protein-specific CT antibodies are not sufficient to protect against ascending or incident infection but broad recognition of CT proteins by IgG correlates with cervical CT gene transcript abundance, suggesting CT protein abundance correlates with immunogenicity and signifies their potential as vaccine candidates.

scholarly journals RNAi and Antiviral Defense in the Honey Bee

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura M. Brutscher ◽  
Michelle L. Flenniken
Keyword(s):  
Honey Bee ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Defense Mechanism ◽  
Antiviral Defense ◽  
Virus Infections ◽  
Colony Losses ◽  
The Us ◽  
Bee Health ◽  
Honey Bee Health

Honey bees play an important agricultural and ecological role as pollinators of numerous agricultural crops and other plant species. Therefore, investigating the factors associated with high annual losses of honey bee colonies in the US is an important and active area of research. Pathogen incidence and abundance correlate with Colony Collapse Disorder- (CCD-) affected colonies in the US and colony losses in the US and in some European countries. Honey bees are readily infected by single-stranded positive sense RNA viruses. Largely dependent on the host immune response, virus infections can either remain asymptomatic or result in deformities, paralysis, or death of adults or larvae. RNA interference (RNAi) is an important antiviral defense mechanism in insects, including honey bees. Herein, we review the role of RNAi in honey bee antiviral defense and highlight some parallels between insect and mammalian immune systems. A more thorough understanding of the role of pathogens on honey bee health and the immune mechanisms bees utilize to combat infectious agents may lead to the development of strategies that enhance honey bee health and result in the discovery of additional mechanisms of immunity in metazoans.

scholarly journals Honey Bee Health: The Potential Role of Microbes

2011 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Gloria DeGrandi-Hoffman ◽  
Bruce Eckholm ◽  
Kirk E. Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Honey Bee ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Bee Health ◽  
Honey Bee Health

scholarly journals Comprehensive analysis of both long and short read transcriptomes of a clonal and a seed-propagated model plant species reveal the prerequisites for transcriptional activation of autonomous and non-autonomous transposons in plants

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ting-Hsuan Chen ◽  
Christopher Winefield
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
Transcriptional Activation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Expression Patterns ◽  
Full Length ◽  
Differentially Expressed ◽  
Hanseniaspora Uvarum ◽  
Premature Termination Codons ◽  
Gene Transcripts ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background Transposable element (TE) transcription is a precursor to its mobilisation in host genomes. However, the characteristics of expressed TE loci, the identification of self-competent transposon loci contributing to new insertions, and the genomic conditions permitting their mobilisation remain largely unknown. Results Using Vitis vinifera embryogenic callus, we explored the impact of biotic stressors on transposon transcription through the exposure of the callus to live cultures of an endemic grapevine yeast, Hanseniaspora uvarum. We found that only 1.7%-2.5% of total annotated TE loci were transcribed, of which 5%-10% of these were full-length, and the expressed TE loci exhibited a strong location bias towards expressed genes. These tendencies were also observed in Arabidopsis thaliana wild-type and ibm2, but not in ddm1 mutant. Moreover, differentially expressed TE loci in the grapevine model tended to share expression patterns with co-localised differentially expressed genes. Utilising nanopore cDNA sequencing, we found a strong correlation between the inclusion of intronic TEs in gene transcripts and the presence of premature termination codons in these transcripts. Finally, we identified low levels of full-length transcripts deriving from structurally autonomous TE loci in the grapevine model. Conclusion Our observations in two disparate plant models representing clonally and seed propagated plant species reveal a closely connected transcriptional relationship between TEs and co-localised genes, particularly when the epigenetic silencing system is intact. We found that the stress treatment alone was insufficient to induce large-scale full-length transcription from structurally competent TE loci, a necessity for non-autonomous and autonomous mobilisation.

scholarly journals A Two-Stage Process for Conversion of Brewer’s Spent Grain into Volatile Fatty Acids through Acidogenic Fermentation

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 3222
Author(s):  
Eliana C. Guarda ◽  
Ana Catarina Oliveira ◽  
Sílvia Antunes ◽  
Filomena Freitas ◽  
Paula M. L. Castro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fatty Acids ◽  
Organic Acid ◽  
Volatile Fatty Acids ◽  
Operation Mode ◽  
Granular Sludge ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Organic Load ◽  
Fermentation Products ◽  
Acidogenic Fermentation ◽  
The Impact

This work is focused on the valorization of brewer’s spent grains (BSG) into volatile fatty acids (VFA) through acidogenic fermentation. VFAs are building blocks for several applications, such as bioplastics’ production. Using acid hydrolysis as pre-treatment, several batch assays were performed and the impact of organic load (OL) and pH on VFA production from BSG hydrolysate was assessed. Regardless of the condition, the produced acids were mainly butyric and acetic acids followed by propionic acid. The OL had a direct impact on the total organic acid concentration with higher concentrations at the highest OL (40 gCOD L−1). pH affected the concentration of individual organic acid, with the highest fermentation products (FP) diversity attained at pH 5.0 and OL of 40 gCOD L−1. To assess the potential application of organic acids for biopolymers (such as polyhydroxyalkanoates) production, the content in hydroxybutyrate (HB) and hydroxyvalerate (HV) monomers was estimated from the respective precursors produced at each pH and OL. The content in HV precursors increased with pH, with a maximum at pH 6.0 (ca. 16% C-mol basis). The acidogenic fermentation of BSG hydrolysate was also assessed in continuous operation, using an expanded granular sludge bed reactor (EGSB). It was shown that the BSG hydrolysate was successfully converted to VFAs without pH control, achieving higher productivities than in the batch operation mode.

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