Nearly all eukaryotes are host to beneficial or benign bacteria in their gut lumen, either vertically inherited, acquired from the environment. While core honey bee becoming evident, influence of hive and pollination environment on microbial health is largely unexplored. Here we compare floral nectar immediate environment, different segments (Apis mellifera) alimentary tract, food stored (honey packed pollen "beebread"). We used cultivation sequencing explore bacterial communities sample...

The honey bee is a key pollinator species in decline worldwide. As part of commercial operation, colonies are exposed to variety agricultural ecosystems throughout the year and multitude environmental variables that may affect microbial balance individuals hive. While many recent studies support idea core microbiota guts younger in-hive bees, it unknown whether this present forager bees or pollen they carry back Additionally, several hypothesize foregut (crop), interface between pollination...

Honey bee hives are filled with stored pollen, honey, plant resins and wax, all antimicrobial to differing degrees. Stored pollen is the nutritionally rich currency used for colony growth consists of 40-50% simple sugars. Many studies speculate that prior consumption by bees, undergoes long-term nutrient conversion, becoming more nutritious 'bee bread' as microbes predigest pollen. We quantified both structural functional aspects associated this hypothesis using behavioural assays, bacterial...

Drosophila melanogaster is one of the most widely used model systems in biology. However, little known about its associated bacterial community. As a first step towards understanding these communities, we compared 16S rRNA gene sequence libraries recovered from 11 natural populations adult D. melanogaster. Bacteria were grouped into 74 distinct taxa, spanning phyla Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Firmicutes, which unevenly spread across host populations. Summed populations, distribution...

Malaria (Plasmodium spp.) kills nearly one million people annually and this number will likely increase as drug insecticide resistance reduces the effectiveness of current control strategies. The most important human malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, undergoes a complex developmental cycle in mosquito that takes approximately two weeks begins with invasion midgut. Here, we demonstrate increased Akt signaling midgut disrupts parasite development concurrently duration mosquitoes are...

The honey bee hive environment contains a rich microbial community that differs according to niche. Acetobacteraceae Alpha 2.2 (Alpha 2.2) bacteria are present in the food stores, forager crop, and larvae but at negligible levels nurse midgut hindgut. We first sought determine source of young by assaying diversity microbes crops, hypopharyngeal glands (HGs), royal jelly (RJ). Amplicon-based pyrosequencing showed occupy each these environments along with variety other bacteria, including...

The honey bee, Apis mellifera L., is host to a variety of microorganisms. bacterial community that occupies the adult worker gut contains core group approximately seven taxa, while hive environment its own distribution bacteria in many ways distinct from gut. Parasaccharibacter apium , gen. nov., sp. bacterium found food stores and larvae, jelly, hypopharyngeal glands, queens. increases larval survival under laboratory conditions. To determine if this benefit extended colonies field, we...

Free-ranging herbivores have yearly life cycles that generate dynamic resource needs. Honey bee colonies also a cycle might nutritional requirements differ between times of brood rearing and colony expansion in the spring population contraction preparation for overwintering fall. To test this, we analyzed polyfloral mixes fall pollens to determine if nutrient composition differed with season. Next, fed both types seasonal bees reared We compared development food glands (i.e., hypopharyngeal...

Abstract Honey bees and other pollinators are critical for food production nutritional security but face multiple survival challenges. The effect of climate change on honey bee colony losses is only recently being explored. While correlations between higher winter temperatures greater have been noted, the impacts warmer autumn population dynamics age structure as an underlying cause reduced not examined. Focusing Pacific Northwest US, our objectives were to (a) quantify autumns winters...

Summary Dietary restriction (DR) extends lifespan in an impressively wide array of species spanning three eukaryotic kingdoms. In sharp contrast, relatively little is known about the effects DR on functional senescence, with most work having been done mice and rats. Here we used Drosophila melanogaster to test assumption that extension through slows down age‐related deterioration. Adult virgin females were kept one diets, sucrose yeast concentrations ranging from 7% 11% 16% (w/v). Besides...

ABSTRACT We showed previously that ingested human insulin activates the insulin/IGF-1 signaling pathway in Anopheles stephensi and increases susceptibility of these mosquitoes to Plasmodium falciparum . In other organisms, can alter immune responsiveness through regulation NF-κB transcription factors, critical elements for innate immunity are also central mosquito immunity. show here decreased expression NF-κB-regulated genes cells stimulated with either bacterial or malarial soluble...

Honey bees are important pollinators of many major crops and add billions dollars annually to the US economy through their services. Recent declines in health honey bee have startled researchers lay people alike as agriculture’s most pollinator. One factor that may influence colony is microbial community. Although worker guts a characteristic community bee-specific microbes, queen digestive tracts colonized predominantly by single acetic acid bacterium tentatively named ‘ Parasaccharibacter...

Management strategies are needed that mitigate the effects of climate change on honey bee colony losses. Extended periods warmer fall temperatures prolong flight and parasitic Varroa mite immigration into colonies. We report a management strategy using Varroa-resistant Russian bees overwintered in indoor cold storage facilities, compare survival growth with unselected European bees. Fat body metrics key to overwintering were also measured Comparisons between colonies versus apiaries...

Honey bee workers (Apis mellifera) consume a variety of pollens to meet the majority their requirements for protein and lipids. Recent work indicates that honey bees prefer diets reflect proper ratio nutrients necessary optimal survival homeostasis. This idea relies on precept evaluate nutritional composition foods provided them. While this has been shown in bumble bees, data are mixed. Further, there is controversy as whether foragers can value pollens, especially if they do not it. Here,...

Honey bee colonies have a yearly cycle that is supported nutritionally by the seasonal progression of flowering plants. In spring, grow rearing brood, but in fall, brood declines preparation for overwintering. Depending on where are located, can differ especially overwintering activities. temperate climates Europe and North America, reduce or end fall while warmer bees rear forage throughout year. To test hypothesis nutrients available pollens honey responses to them we analyzed pollen...

Studies of invertebrate immune defence often measure genetic variation either for the fitness cost infection or ability host to clear parasite. These studies assume that in measures resistance is related costs infection. To test this assumption, we infected strains fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, with a pathogenic bacterium. We then measured correlation between bacterial load and survive Despite presence genotypic both traits, survival post-infection were not correlated. Our results...

1 Geographically distinct host populations often experience very different ecological conditions. These variable conditions impact the strength of selection that these hosts from their parasites. 2 Numerous studies have characterized geographical patterns resistance to infection among natural in context host–parasite local adaptation, but what other factors might contribute differences? 3 Here, we determined whether 20 naturally isolated Drosophila melanogaster collected along East Coast...

Honey bees (Apis mellifera) contribute substantially to the worldwide economy and ecosystem health as pollinators. Pollen is essential bee's diet, providing protein, lipids, micronutrients. The dramatic shifts in physiology, anatomy, behavior that accompany normal worker development are highly plastic recent work demonstrates development, particularly transition from nurse foraging roles, greatly impacted by diet. However, role diet plays developmental of newly eclosed workers poorly...

Honey bee abdominal lipids decline with age, a change thought to be associated the onset of foraging behavior. Stressors, such as pesticides, may accelerate this by mobilizing internal lipid facilitate stress response. Whether bees stressor-induced accelerated loss vary from controls in both and nutritional quality collected pollen is not fully understood. We asked whether stressors affect behavior through depletion lipid, stress-induced causes forage earlier for fattier pollen. tested...

Honey bees that consume pollen with sublethal levels of the fungicide Pristine® can have reduced digestion, lower ATP synthesis, and in many ways resemble malnourished bees. Reduced nutrient acquisition exposed to might be due effects this on composition gut microbial communities. Two experiments were conducted two separate years test for diversity bacteria nurse bee midguts. In low-dose experiment, fed had a relative abundance Gilliamella sp. number bacterial taxa within each individual was...