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Maleszka R. Reminiscences on the honeybee genome project and the rise of epigenetic concepts in insect science. INSECT MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 2024; 33:444-456. [PMID: 38196200 DOI: 10.1111/imb.12888] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2023] [Accepted: 12/18/2023] [Indexed: 01/11/2024]
Abstract
The sequencing of the honeybee genome in 2006 was an important technological and logistic achievement experience. But what benefits have flown from the honeybee genome project? What does the annotated genomic assembly mean for the study of behavioural complexity and organismal function in honeybees? Here, I discuss several lines of research that have arisen from this project and highlight the rapidly expanding studies on insect epigenomics, emergent properties of royal jelly, the mechanism of nutritional control of development and the contribution of epigenomic regulation to the evolution of sociality. I also argue that the term 'insect epigenetics' needs to be carefully redefined to reflect the diversity of epigenomic toolkits in insects and the impact of lineage-specific innovations on organismal outcomes. The honeybee genome project helped pioneer advances in social insect molecular biology, and fuelled breakthrough research into the role of flexible epigenomic control systems in linking genotype to phenotype.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryszard Maleszka
- Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
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2
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Walton A, Herman JJ, Rueppell O. Social life results in social stress protection: a novel concept to explain individual life-history patterns in social insects. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2024; 99:1444-1457. [PMID: 38468146 DOI: 10.1111/brv.13074] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2023] [Revised: 02/28/2024] [Accepted: 03/04/2024] [Indexed: 03/13/2024]
Abstract
Resistance to and avoidance of stress slow aging and confer increased longevity in numerous organisms. Honey bees and other superorganismal social insects have two main advantages over solitary species to avoid or resist stress: individuals can directly help each other by resource or information transfer, and they can cooperatively control their environment. These benefits have been recognised in the context of pathogen and parasite stress as the concept of social immunity, which has been extensively studied. However, we argue that social immunity is only a special case of a general concept that we define here as social stress protection to include group-level defences against all biotic and abiotic stressors. We reason that social stress protection may have allowed the evolution of reduced individual-level defences and individual life-history optimization, including the exceptional aging plasticity of many social insects. We describe major categories of stress and how a colonial lifestyle may protect social insects, particularly against temporary peaks of extreme stress. We use the honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) to illustrate how patterns of life expectancy may be explained by social stress protection and how modern beekeeping practices can disrupt social stress protection. We conclude that the broad concept of social stress protection requires rigorous empirical testing because it may have implications for our general understanding of social evolution and specifically for improving honey bee health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander Walton
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, CW 405, Biological Sciences Building, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Jacob J Herman
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, CW 405, Biological Sciences Building, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Olav Rueppell
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, CW 405, Biological Sciences Building, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
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3
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Weger AA, Rittschof CC. The diverse roles of insulin signaling in insect behavior. FRONTIERS IN INSECT SCIENCE 2024; 4:1360320. [PMID: 38638680 PMCID: PMC11024295 DOI: 10.3389/finsc.2024.1360320] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2023] [Accepted: 03/21/2024] [Indexed: 04/20/2024]
Abstract
In insects and other animals, nutrition-mediated behaviors are modulated by communication between the brain and peripheral systems, a process that relies heavily on the insulin/insulin-like growth factor signaling pathway (IIS). Previous studies have focused on the mechanistic and physiological functions of insulin-like peptides (ILPs) in critical developmental and adult milestones like pupation or vitellogenesis. Less work has detailed the mechanisms connecting ILPs to adult nutrient-mediated behaviors related to survival and reproductive success. Here we briefly review the range of behaviors linked to IIS in insects, from conserved regulation of feeding behavior to evolutionarily derived polyphenisms. Where possible, we incorporate information from Drosophila melanogaster and other model species to describe molecular and neural mechanisms that connect nutritional status to behavioral expression via IIS. We identify knowledge gaps which include the diverse functional roles of peripheral ILPs, how ILPs modulate neural function and behavior across the lifespan, and the lack of detailed mechanistic research in a broad range of taxa. Addressing these gaps would enable a better understanding of the evolution of this conserved and widely deployed tool kit pathway.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Clare C. Rittschof
- Department of Entomology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, United States
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4
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Anderson A, Keime N, Fong C, Kraemer A, Fassbinder-Orth C. Resilin Distribution and Abundance in Apis mellifera across Biological Age Classes and Castes. INSECTS 2023; 14:764. [PMID: 37754732 PMCID: PMC10532044 DOI: 10.3390/insects14090764] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2023] [Revised: 08/24/2023] [Accepted: 08/29/2023] [Indexed: 09/28/2023]
Abstract
The presence of resilin, an elastomeric protein, in insect vein joints provides the flexible, passive deformations that are crucial to flapping flight. This study investigated the resilin gene expression and autofluorescence dynamics among Apis mellifera (honey bee) worker age classes and drone honey bees. Resilin gene expression was determined via ddPCR on whole honey bees and resilin autofluorescence was measured in the 1m-cu, 2m-cu, Cu-V, and Cu2-V joints on the forewing and the Cu-V joint of the hindwing. Resilin gene expression varied significantly with age, with resilin activity being highest in the pupae. Autofluorescence of the 1m-cu and the Cu-V joints on the ventral forewing and the Cu-V joint on the ventral hindwing varied significantly between age classes on the left and right sides of the wing, with the newly emerged honey bees having the highest level of resilin autofluorescence compared to all other groups. The results of this study suggest that resilin gene expression and deposition on the wing is age-dependent and may inform us more about the physiology of aging in honey bees.
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Affiliation(s)
- Audrey Anderson
- Department of Biological Systems Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 1400 R Street, Lincoln, NE 68588, USA;
| | - Noah Keime
- Biology Department, Creighton University, 2500 California Plaza, Omaha, NE 68178, USA
| | - Chandler Fong
- Biology Department, Creighton University, 2500 California Plaza, Omaha, NE 68178, USA
| | | | - Carol Fassbinder-Orth
- Biology Department, Creighton University, 2500 California Plaza, Omaha, NE 68178, USA
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5
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Salis F, Zanda F, Cherchi F, Puxeddu B, Sanna L, Scudu C, Serreli S, Stanisci L, Cossu E, Mandas A. Diabetes mellitus, malnutrition, and sarcopenia: The bond is not explained by bioelectrical impedance analysis in older adults. J Med Life 2023; 16:1170-1177. [PMID: 38024829 PMCID: PMC10652670 DOI: 10.25122/jml-2023-0173] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2023] [Accepted: 07/10/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023] Open
Abstract
As people age, their risk of diabetes mellitus (DM) and sarcopenia increases due to the decline in muscle mass and strength. Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) is a method used to detect changes in body composition. The primary aim of the study was to determine the distribution of BIA variables among a group of non-DM people and two groups of patients with controlled and uncontrolled DM. The secondary aim was to establish the independent association between BIA-derived data, lipidic assets, and the prevalence of metabolic syndromes with DM. This study included a total of 235 participants who were categorized into three groups based on the presence of diabetes mellitus (DM) and their glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels: non-DM, controlled DM (HbA1c≤7.0%), and uncontrolled DM (HbA1c>7.0%). Waist circumference (p=0.005), bone (p<0.001), muscular (p<0.001), and appendicular skeletal mass (p<0.001) were lower in the non-DM group, while sarcopenic risk (p<0.001), total cholesterol (p<0.001), and LDL (p<0.001), were higher. Grip strength (p<0.001), visceral fat (p=0.01), and phase angle (p=0.04) were significantly lower in non-DM than uncontrolled DM patients, as well as the number of drugs taken (p=0.014). A multivariate analysis highlighted that LDL (coefficient -0.006, p=0.01) was negatively associated, while bone mass (coefficient 0.498, p=0.0042) was positively associated with DM uncontrol. Our study shows that BIA may not be the ideal tool for distinguishing between elderly individuals with and without DM, as it can be affected by numerous covariates, including potential differences in glucometabolic and cardiovascular control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesco Salis
- Department of Medical Sciences and Public Health, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy
| | - Francesca Zanda
- Department of Medical Sciences and Public Health, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy
| | - Federica Cherchi
- Department of Medical Sciences and Public Health, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy
| | - Benedetta Puxeddu
- Department of Medical Sciences and Public Health, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy
| | - Luisa Sanna
- Department of Medical Sciences and Public Health, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy
| | - Chiara Scudu
- Department of Medical Sciences and Public Health, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy
| | - Silvia Serreli
- Department of Medicine, Surgery, and Pharmacy, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy
| | - Lorenzo Stanisci
- Department of Medicine, Surgery, and Pharmacy, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy
| | - Efisio Cossu
- University Hospital Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy
| | - Antonella Mandas
- Department of Medical Sciences and Public Health, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy
- University Hospital Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy
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Brejcha M, Prušáková D, Sábová M, Peska V, Černý J, Kodrík D, Konopová B, Čapková Frydrychová R. Seasonal changes in ultrastructure and gene expression in the fat body of worker honey bees. JOURNAL OF INSECT PHYSIOLOGY 2023; 146:104504. [PMID: 36935036 DOI: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2023.104504] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2022] [Revised: 01/19/2023] [Accepted: 03/14/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
The anatomical, physiological, and behavioral characteristics of honey bees are affected by the season as well as division of labor. In this study, we examined the structure, ultrastructure, and gene expression of fat body cells in both long-lived winter and short-lived summer worker bees (the youngest stage of hive bees and forager bees). In contrast to hive bees, foragers and winter bees have a higher metabolism due to intensive muscle activity during their flight (foragers) or endothermic heat production (winter bees). These workers differ from hive bees in the biology of their mitochondria, peroxisomes, and lysosomes as well as in the expression of the genes involved in lipid, carbohydrate, amino acid metabolism, insulin, and TGF- β signaling. Additionally, the expression of genes related to phospholipid metabolism was higher in the hive bees. However, we found no differences between workers in the expression of genes controlling cell organelles, such as the Golgi apparatus, endoplasmic reticulum, ribosomes, nucleus, and vacuoles, as well as genes for DNA replication, cell cycle control, and autophagy. Furthermore, lysosomes, autophagic processes and lipofuscin particles were more frequently observed in winter bees using electron microscopy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miloslav Brejcha
- Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Entomology, Branišovská 31, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic; Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Branišovská 1760, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - Daniela Prušáková
- Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Entomology, Branišovská 31, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic; Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Branišovská 1760, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - Michala Sábová
- Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Entomology, Branišovská 31, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - Vratislav Peska
- Institute of Biophysics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Královopolská 135, 612 65 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Jan Černý
- Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Entomology, Branišovská 31, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic; Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Branišovská 1760, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - Dalibor Kodrík
- Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Entomology, Branišovská 31, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic; Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Branišovská 1760, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - Barbora Konopová
- Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Entomology, Branišovská 31, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic; Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Branišovská 1760, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - Radmila Čapková Frydrychová
- Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Entomology, Branišovská 31, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic; Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Branišovská 1760, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic.
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7
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Copeland DC, Maes PW, Mott BM, Anderson KE. Changes in gut microbiota and metabolism associated with phenotypic plasticity in the honey bee Apis mellifera. Front Microbiol 2022; 13:1059001. [PMID: 36569094 PMCID: PMC9788138 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.1059001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2022] [Accepted: 11/17/2022] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Honey bees exhibit an elaborate social structure based in part on an age-related division of labor. Young workers perform tasks inside the hive, while older workers forage outside the hive, tasks associated with distinct diets and metabolism. Critical to colony fitness, the work force can respond rapidly to changes in the environment or colony demography and assume emergency tasks, resulting in young foragers or old nurses. We hypothesized that both task and age affect the gut microbiota consistent with changes to host diet and physiology. We performed two experiments inducing precocious foragers and reverted nurses, then quantified tissue-specific gut microbiota and host metabolic state associated with nutrition, immunity and oxidative stress. In the precocious forager experiment, both age and ontogeny explained differences in midgut and ileum microbiota, but host gene expression was best explained by an interaction of these factors. Precocious foragers were nutritionally deficient, and incurred higher levels of oxidative damage relative to age-matched nurses. In the oldest workers, reverted nurses, the oxidative damage associated with age and past foraging was compensated by high Vitellogenin expression, which exceeded that of young nurses. Host-microbial interactions were evident throughout the dataset, highlighted by an age-based increase of Gilliamella abundance and diversity concurrent with increased carbonyl accumulation and CuZnSOD expression. The results in general contribute to an understanding of ecological succession of the worker gut microbiota, defining the species-level transition from nurse to forager.
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Affiliation(s)
- Duan C. Copeland
- USDA-ARS Carl Hayden Bee Research Center, Tucson, AZ, United States,Department of Microbiology, School of Animal and Comparative Biomedical Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, United States,*Correspondence: Duan C. Copeland,
| | - Patrick W. Maes
- USDA-ARS Carl Hayden Bee Research Center, Tucson, AZ, United States,Department of Entomology and Center for Insect Science, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, United States
| | - Brendon M. Mott
- USDA-ARS Carl Hayden Bee Research Center, Tucson, AZ, United States
| | - Kirk E. Anderson
- USDA-ARS Carl Hayden Bee Research Center, Tucson, AZ, United States,*Correspondence: Duan C. Copeland,
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8
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Ilyasov RA, Rašić S, Takahashi J, Danilenko VN, Proshchalykin MY, Lelej AS, Sattarov VN, Thai PH, Raffiudin R, Kwon HW. Genetic Relationships and Signatures of Adaptation to the Climatic Conditions in Populations of Apis cerana Based on the Polymorphism of the Gene Vitellogenin. INSECTS 2022; 13:1053. [PMID: 36421957 PMCID: PMC9694869 DOI: 10.3390/insects13111053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2022] [Revised: 11/01/2022] [Accepted: 11/09/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Apis cerana and Apis mellifera are important honey bee species in Asia. A. cerana populations are distributed from a cold, sharply continental climate in the north to a hot, subtropical climate in the south. Due to the Sacbrood virus, almost all A. cerana populations in Asia have declined significantly in recent decades and have recovered over the past five years. This could lead to a shift in the gene pool of local A. cerana populations that could affect their sustainability and adaptation. It was assumed that adaptation of honey bees could be observed by comparative analysis of the sequences of genes involved in development, labor division, and caste differentiation, such as the gene Vitellogenin VG. The VG gene nucleotide sequences were used to assess the genetic structure and signatures of adaptation of local populations of A. cerana from Korea, Russia, Japan, Nepal, and China. A. mellifera samples from India and Poland were used as the outgroup. The signatures of adaptive selection were found in the local population of A. cerana using VG gene sequence analysis based on Jukes−Cantor genetic distances, cluster analysis, dN/dS ratio evaluation, and Tajima’s D neutrality test. Based on analysis of the VG gene sequences, Apis cerana koreana subspecies in the Korean Peninsula were subdivided into three groups in accordance with their geographic localization from north to south. The VG gene sequences are acceptable tools to study the sustainability and adaptation of A. cerana populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rustem A. Ilyasov
- Scientific and Educational Center, Bashkir State Agrarian University, 50-Letiya Oktyabrya Str. 34, 450001 Ufa, Russia
- Department of Life Sciences, Convergence Research Center for Insect Vectors, Incheon National University, 119 Academy-ro, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon 22012, Republic of Korea
- Department of Genetics and Biotechnology, Vavilov Institute of General Genetics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Gubkina Str. 3, 119333 Moscow, Russia
| | - Slađan Rašić
- Faculty of Ecological Agriculture, Educons University, Vojvode Putnika 87, 21208 Sremska Kamenica, Serbia
| | - Junichi Takahashi
- Faculty of Life Sciences, Kyoto Sangyo University, Kamigamo Motoyama, Kita Ward, Kyoto 603-8555, Japan
| | - Valery N. Danilenko
- Department of Genetics and Biotechnology, Vavilov Institute of General Genetics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Gubkina Str. 3, 119333 Moscow, Russia
| | - Maxim Y. Proshchalykin
- Federal Scientific Center of the East Asia Terrestrial Biodiversity, Prospekt 100-let Vladivostoka, 159, 690022 Vladivostok, Russia
| | - Arkady S. Lelej
- Federal Scientific Center of the East Asia Terrestrial Biodiversity, Prospekt 100-let Vladivostoka, 159, 690022 Vladivostok, Russia
| | - Vener N. Sattarov
- Department of Bioecology and Biological Education, Bashkir State Pedagogical University Named after M. Akmulla, 3a October Revolution Street, 450008 Ufa, Russia
| | - Pham Hong Thai
- Research Center for Tropical Bees and Beekeeping, Vietnam National University of Agriculture, Trau Quy, Gia Lam, Hanoi 100000, Vietnam
| | - Rika Raffiudin
- Department of Biology, Bogor Agricultural University, Darmaga, Bogor 16680, Indonesia
| | - Hyung Wook Kwon
- Department of Life Sciences, Convergence Research Center for Insect Vectors, Incheon National University, 119 Academy-ro, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon 22012, Republic of Korea
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9
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Wegener J, Krause S, Parafianczuk V, Chaniotakis I, Schiller J, Dannenberger D, Engel KM. Lipidomic specializations of honeybee (Apis mellifera) castes and ethotypes. JOURNAL OF INSECT PHYSIOLOGY 2022; 142:104439. [PMID: 36063873 DOI: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2022.104439] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2022] [Revised: 08/17/2022] [Accepted: 08/29/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Honeybees of the same colony combine a near-homogeneous genetic background with a high level of phenotypic plasticity, making them ideal models for functional lipidomics. The only external lipid source of the colony is pollen, a diet rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). It has been suggested that differences in exposure to pollen-derived PUFA could partly explain differences in longevity between honeybee castes. We here investigated whether the membrane composition of honeybees plays roles in the physiological adaptation to tasks of individuals within the colony. Membranes of cell heaters, a group of workers producing heat from their flight muscles to uphold brood nest temperature, were compared to those of different types of non-heaters. We found that the lipidomic profiles of these groups fall into clearly different "lipotypes", characterized by chain length and saturation of phospholipid-bound fatty acyl residues. The nutritional exposure to PUFA during early adult life and pupal development at the lower edge of the natural range of brood nest temperature both suppressed the expression of the cell heater-"lipotype". Because cardiolipins (CL) are the lipid class most clearly differentiating honeybee phenotypes, and CL plays central roles in mitochondrial function, dysfunction and aging, our findings could help to understand these processes in other animals and humans. Taken together, the lipidome analysis of different life stages of workers, fertile queens, and drones lead to the hypothesis that honeybee "lipotypes" might represent adaptations to different energetic profiles and the likelihood of exposure to low temperatures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jakob Wegener
- Institute for Bee Research, Friedrich-Engels-Strasse 32, 16540 Hohen Neuendorf, Germany.
| | - Sophie Krause
- Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Strasse 1 - 3, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Victoria Parafianczuk
- University of Leipzig, Institute for Medical Physics and Biophysics, Haertelstrasse 16 - 18, 04107 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Ioannis Chaniotakis
- Institute for Bee Research, Friedrich-Engels-Strasse 32, 16540 Hohen Neuendorf, Germany
| | - Jürgen Schiller
- University of Leipzig, Institute for Medical Physics and Biophysics, Haertelstrasse 16 - 18, 04107 Leipzig, Germany.
| | - Dirk Dannenberger
- Research Institute for Farm Animal Biology, Institute of Muscle Biology and Growth, Wilhelm-Stahl-Allee 2, 18196 Dummerstorf, Germany.
| | - Kathrin M Engel
- University of Leipzig, Institute for Medical Physics and Biophysics, Haertelstrasse 16 - 18, 04107 Leipzig, Germany.
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10
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Social microbiota and social gland gene expression of worker honey bees by age and climate. Sci Rep 2022; 12:10690. [PMID: 35739206 PMCID: PMC9226125 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-14442-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2021] [Accepted: 06/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Winter forage dearth is a major contributor to honey bee colony loss and can influence disease susceptibility. Honey bees possess a secretory head gland that interfaces with the social environment on many levels. During winter or forage dearth, colonies produce a long-lived (diutinus) worker phenotype that survives until environmental conditions improve. We used a known-age worker cohort to investigate microbiome integrity and social gene expression of workers in early and late winter. We provide additional context by contrasting host-microbial interactions from warm outdoor and cold indoor environments. Our results provide novel evidence that social immune gene expression is associated with worker longevity, and highlight the midgut as a target of opportunistic disease during winter. Host microbial interactions suggest opportunistic disease progression and resistance in long-lived workers, but susceptibility to opportunistic disease in younger workers that emerged during the winter, including increases in Enterobacteriaceae, fungal load and non-core bacterial abundance. The results are consistent with increased social immunity, including host associations with the social microbiota, and a social immune response by long-lived workers to combat microbial opportunism. The cost/benefit ratio associated with limited expression of the diutinus phenotype may be a strong determinant of colony survival during winter forage dearth.
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11
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Siracusa ER, Higham JP, Snyder-Mackler N, Brent LJN. Social ageing: exploring the drivers of late-life changes in social behaviour in mammals. Biol Lett 2022; 18:20210643. [PMID: 35232274 PMCID: PMC8889194 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2021.0643] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Social interactions help group-living organisms cope with socio-environmental challenges and are central to survival and reproductive success. Recent research has shown that social behaviour and relationships can change across the lifespan, a phenomenon referred to as 'social ageing'. Given the importance of social integration for health and well-being, age-dependent changes in social behaviour can modulate how fitness changes with age and may be an important source of unexplained variation in individual patterns of senescence. However, integrating social behaviour into ageing research requires a deeper understanding of the causes and consequences of age-based changes in social behaviour. Here, we provide an overview of the drivers of late-life changes in sociality. We suggest that explanations for social ageing can be categorized into three groups: changes in sociality that (a) occur as a result of senescence; (b) result from adaptations to ameliorate the negative effects of senescence; and/or (c) result from positive effects of age and demographic changes. Quantifying the relative contribution of these processes to late-life changes in sociality will allow us to move towards a more holistic understanding of how and why these patterns emerge and will provide important insights into the potential for social ageing to delay or accelerate other patterns of senescence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erin R Siracusa
- School of Psychology, Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - James P Higham
- Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Noah Snyder-Mackler
- Center for Evolution and Medicine, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA.,School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA.,School for Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
| | - Lauren J N Brent
- School of Psychology, Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
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12
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Schilcher F, Hilsmann L, Rauscher L, Değirmenci L, Krischke M, Krischke B, Ankenbrand M, Rutschmann B, Mueller MJ, Steffan-Dewenter I, Scheiner R. In Vitro Rearing Changes Social Task Performance and Physiology in Honeybees. INSECTS 2021; 13:insects13010004. [PMID: 35055848 PMCID: PMC8779213 DOI: 10.3390/insects13010004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2021] [Revised: 12/16/2021] [Accepted: 12/17/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Simple Summary The rearing of honeybee larvae in the laboratory is an important tool for studying the effects of plant protection products or pathogens on developing and adult bees, yet how rearing under artificial conditions affects the later social behavior and physiology of the honeybees is mostly unknown. We, here, show that honeybees reared in the laboratory generally had a lower probability for performing nursing or foraging tasks compared to bees reared under natural conditions in bee colonies. Nursing behavior itself appeared normal in in vitro honeybees. In contrast, bees reared in the laboratory foraged for a shorter period in life and performed fewer trips compared to bees reared in colonies. In addition, in vitro honeybees did not display the typical increase in juvenile hormone titer, which goes hand-in-hand with the initiation of foraging in colony-reared bees. Abstract In vitro rearing of honeybee larvae is an established method that enables exact control and monitoring of developmental factors and allows controlled application of pesticides or pathogens. However, only a few studies have investigated how the rearing method itself affects the behavior of the resulting adult honeybees. We raised honeybees in vitro according to a standardized protocol: marking the emerging honeybees individually and inserting them into established colonies. Subsequently, we investigated the behavioral performance of nurse bees and foragers and quantified the physiological factors underlying the social organization. Adult honeybees raised in vitro differed from naturally reared honeybees in their probability of performing social tasks. Further, in vitro-reared bees foraged for a shorter duration in their life and performed fewer foraging trips. Nursing behavior appeared to be unaffected by rearing condition. Weight was also unaffected by rearing condition. Interestingly, juvenile hormone titers, which normally increase strongly around the time when a honeybee becomes a forager, were significantly lower in three- and four-week-old in vitro bees. The effects of the rearing environment on individual sucrose responsiveness and lipid levels were rather minor. These data suggest that larval rearing conditions can affect the task performance and physiology of adult bees despite equal weight, pointing to an important role of the colony environment for these factors. Our observations of behavior and metabolic pathways offer important novel insight into how the rearing environment affects adult honeybees.
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Affiliation(s)
- Felix Schilcher
- Biocentre, Department of Behavioural Physiology and Sociobiology, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074 Würzburg, Germany; (L.H.); (L.R.); (L.D.); (R.S.)
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +49-931-31-85373
| | - Lioba Hilsmann
- Biocentre, Department of Behavioural Physiology and Sociobiology, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074 Würzburg, Germany; (L.H.); (L.R.); (L.D.); (R.S.)
| | - Lisa Rauscher
- Biocentre, Department of Behavioural Physiology and Sociobiology, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074 Würzburg, Germany; (L.H.); (L.R.); (L.D.); (R.S.)
| | - Laura Değirmenci
- Biocentre, Department of Behavioural Physiology and Sociobiology, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074 Würzburg, Germany; (L.H.); (L.R.); (L.D.); (R.S.)
| | - Markus Krischke
- Department of Pharmaceutical Biology, Julius-von-Sachs-Institute, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Julius-von-Sachs-Platz 2, 97082 Würzburg, Germany; (M.K.); (M.J.M.)
| | - Beate Krischke
- Biocentre, Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074 Würzburg, Germany; (B.K.); (B.R.); (I.S.-D.)
| | - Markus Ankenbrand
- Center for Computational and Theoretical Biology (CCTB), Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Klara-Oppenheimer-Weg 32, 97074 Würzburg, Germany;
| | - Benjamin Rutschmann
- Biocentre, Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074 Würzburg, Germany; (B.K.); (B.R.); (I.S.-D.)
| | - Martin J. Mueller
- Department of Pharmaceutical Biology, Julius-von-Sachs-Institute, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Julius-von-Sachs-Platz 2, 97082 Würzburg, Germany; (M.K.); (M.J.M.)
| | - Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter
- Biocentre, Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074 Würzburg, Germany; (B.K.); (B.R.); (I.S.-D.)
| | - Ricarda Scheiner
- Biocentre, Department of Behavioural Physiology and Sociobiology, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074 Würzburg, Germany; (L.H.); (L.R.); (L.D.); (R.S.)
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A Machine Learning Approach to Study Demographic Alterations in Honeybee Colonies Using SDS-PAGE Fingerprinting. Animals (Basel) 2021; 11:ani11061823. [PMID: 34207270 PMCID: PMC8233723 DOI: 10.3390/ani11061823] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2021] [Revised: 06/14/2021] [Accepted: 06/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Honeybees, as social insects, live in highly organised colonies where tasks reflect the age of individuals. As is widely known, in this context, emergent properties arise from interactions between them. The accelerated maturation of nurses into foragers, stimulated by many negative factors, may disrupt this complex equilibrium. This complexity needs a paradigm shift: from the study of a single stressor to the study of the effects exerted by multiple stressors on colony homeostasis. The aim of this research is, therefore, to study colony population disturbances by discriminating overaged nurses from proper aged nurses and precocious foragers from proper aged foragers using SDS-PAGE patterns of haemolymph proteins and a machine-learning algorithm. The KNN (K Nearest Neighbours) model fitted on the forager dataset showed remarkably good performances (accuracy 0.93, sensitivity 0.88, specificity 1.00) in discriminating precocious foragers from proper aged ones. The main strength of this innovative approach lies in the possibility of it being deployed as a preventive tool. Depopulation is an elusive syndrome in bee pathology and early detection with the method described could shed more light on the phenomenon. In addition, it enables countermeasures to revert this vicious circle.
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14
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Sieber KR, Dorman T, Newell N, Yan H. (Epi)Genetic Mechanisms Underlying the Evolutionary Success of Eusocial Insects. INSECTS 2021; 12:498. [PMID: 34071806 PMCID: PMC8229086 DOI: 10.3390/insects12060498] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2021] [Revised: 05/18/2021] [Accepted: 05/21/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Eusocial insects, such as bees, ants, and wasps of the Hymenoptera and termites of the Blattodea, are able to generate remarkable diversity in morphology and behavior despite being genetically uniform within a colony. Most eusocial insect species display caste structures in which reproductive ability is possessed by a single or a few queens while all other colony members act as workers. However, in some species, caste structure is somewhat plastic, and individuals may switch from one caste or behavioral phenotype to another in response to certain environmental cues. As different castes normally share a common genetic background, it is believed that much of this observed within-colony diversity results from transcriptional differences between individuals. This suggests that epigenetic mechanisms, featured by modified gene expression without changing genes themselves, may play an important role in eusocial insects. Indeed, epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation, histone modifications and non-coding RNAs, have been shown to influence eusocial insects in multiple aspects, along with typical genetic regulation. This review summarizes the most recent findings regarding such mechanisms and their diverse roles in eusocial insects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kayli R. Sieber
- Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA; (K.R.S.); (T.D.); (N.N.)
| | - Taylor Dorman
- Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA; (K.R.S.); (T.D.); (N.N.)
| | - Nicholas Newell
- Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA; (K.R.S.); (T.D.); (N.N.)
| | - Hua Yan
- Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA; (K.R.S.); (T.D.); (N.N.)
- Center for Smell and Taste, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
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15
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Beros S, Lenhart A, Scharf I, Negroni MA, Menzel F, Foitzik S. Extreme lifespan extension in tapeworm-infected ant workers. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2021; 8:202118. [PMID: 34017599 PMCID: PMC8131941 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.202118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2020] [Accepted: 04/22/2021] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
Social insects are hosts of diverse parasites, but the influence of these parasites on phenotypic host traits is not yet well understood. Here, we tracked the survival of tapeworm-infected ant workers, their uninfected nest-mates and of ants from unparasitized colonies. Our multi-year study on the ant Temnothorax nylanderi, the intermediate host of the tapeworm Anomotaenia brevis, revealed a prolonged lifespan of infected workers compared with their uninfected peers. Intriguingly, their survival over 3 years did not differ from those of (uninfected) queens, whose lifespan can reach two decades. By contrast, uninfected workers from parasitized colonies suffered from increased mortality compared with uninfected workers from unparasitized colonies. Infected workers exhibited a metabolic rate and lipid content similar to young workers in this species, and they received more social care than uninfected workers and queens in their colonies. This increased attention could be mediated by their deviant chemical profile, which we determined to elicit more interest from uninfected nest-mates in a separate experiment. In conclusion, our study demonstrates an extreme lifespan extension in a social host following tapeworm infection, which appears to enable host workers to retain traits typical for young workers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Beros
- Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing, Cologne, Germany
| | - Anna Lenhart
- Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany
| | - Inon Scharf
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Matteo Antoine Negroni
- Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany
| | - Florian Menzel
- Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany
| | - Susanne Foitzik
- Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany
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16
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Quigley TP, Amdam GV. Social modulation of ageing: mechanisms, ecology, evolution. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2021; 376:20190738. [PMID: 33678020 PMCID: PMC7938163 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0738] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/22/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Human life expectancy increases, but the disease-free part of lifespan (healthspan) and the quality of life in old people may not show the same development. The situation poses considerable challenges to healthcare systems and economies, and calls for new strategies to increase healthspan and for sustainable future approaches to elder care. This call has motivated innovative research on the role of social relationships during ageing. Correlative data from clinical surveys indicate that social contact promotes healthy ageing, and it is time to reveal the causal mechanisms through experimental research. The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster is a prolific model animal, but insects with more developed social behaviour can be equally instrumental for this research. Here, we discuss the role of social contact in ageing, and identify lines of study where diverse insect models can help uncover the mechanisms that are involved. This article is part of the theme issue 'Ageing and sociality: why, when and how does sociality change ageing patterns?'
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Affiliation(s)
- Tyler P. Quigley
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, PO Box 874501, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
| | - Gro V. Amdam
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, PO Box 874501, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
- Department of Chemistry, Biotechnology and Food Science, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, PO Box 5002, N-1432 Aas, Norway
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17
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Paleolog J, Wilde J, Miszczak A, Gancarz M, Strachecka A. Antioxidation Defenses of Apis mellifera Queens and Workers Respond to Imidacloprid in Different Age-Dependent Ways: Old Queens Are Resistant, Foragers Are Not. Animals (Basel) 2021; 11:ani11051246. [PMID: 33925987 PMCID: PMC8145063 DOI: 10.3390/ani11051246] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2021] [Revised: 04/21/2021] [Accepted: 04/22/2021] [Indexed: 01/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary Honey bees are unique for studies on aging because queens live 40-fold longer than workers. An efficient antioxidant defense (ADS) is thought to be pivotal for longevity, but not always. How were different ADSs shaped by evolution in young and old queens and workers? Honey bees, the essential pollinators, are facing depopulation due, at least in part, to pesticides, such as imidacloprid, an oxidative stressor. Is an evolutionarily shaped ADS still useful for contemporary young and old queens/workers? Answering these questions is important for emerging oxidative-stress ecology and protecting contemporary honey bees. The ADS activity was determined in 1-day-old, 20-day-old, and 2-year-old queens and in 1-day-old and 20-day-old workers (foragers) fed without (control) or with low or high imidacloprid (in bee food). ADS was upregulated in workers with age but downregulated in queens. However, imidacloprid oxidative stress suppressed the active ADS in workers, particularly 20-day-old foragers, but not in 1-day-old queens. Unexpectedly, poor ADS activity in 2-year-old queens was highly upregulated by imidacloprid. Thus, queen and worker ADSs respond to imidacloprid in opposite ways, and old queens were still resistant, but foragers were not. This may be unfavorable for foragers dwelling in ecosystems that expose them to pesticides. Abstract We investigated how different antioxidant defenses (ADSs) were shaped by evolution in young/old Apis mellifera workers and queens to broaden the limited knowledge on whether ADSs are effective in contemporary pesticide environments and to complete bee oxidative-aging theory. We acquired 1-day-old, 20-day-old, and 2-year-old queens and 1-day-old and 20-day-old workers (foragers) fed 0, 5, or 200 ppb imidacloprid, a pesticide oxidative stressor. The activities of catalase, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione S-transferase, and superoxide dismutase and the level of total antioxidant potential were determined in hemolymph. The ADS was upregulated in workers with age but downregulated in queens. Imidacloprid suppressed the ADS in all workers, particularly in foragers with an upregulated ADS, but it did not affect the ADS in 1-day-old queens. In contrast to foragers, the downregulated ADS of 2-year-old queens was unexpectedly highly upregulated by imidacloprid, which has not been previously shown in such old queens. The principal component analysis confirmed that queen and worker ADSs responded to imidacloprid in opposite ways, and ADS of 2-year-queens was markedly different from those of others. Thus, evolutionary shaped ADSs of older queens and workers may be of the limited use for foragers dwelling in pesticide ecosystems, but not for old queens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jerzy Paleolog
- Department of Zoology and Animal Ecology, Faculty of Environmental Biology, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Akademicka 13, 20-950 Lublin, Poland;
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +48-602-725-175
| | - Jerzy Wilde
- Department of Poultry Science and Apiculture, Faculty of Animal Bioengineering, Warmia and Mazury University in Olsztyn, ul. Słoneczna 48, 10-957 Olsztyn, Poland;
| | - Artur Miszczak
- Food Safety Laboratory, The National Institute of Horticultural Research, Pomologiczna 13b, 96-100 Skierniewice, Poland;
| | - Marek Gancarz
- Institute of Agrophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Doświadczalna 4, 20-290 Lublin, Poland;
| | - Aneta Strachecka
- Department of Zoology and Animal Ecology, Faculty of Environmental Biology, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Akademicka 13, 20-950 Lublin, Poland;
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Scharf I, Stoldt M, Libbrecht R, Höpfner AL, Jongepier E, Kever M, Foitzik S. Social isolation causes downregulation of immune and stress response genes and behavioural changes in a social insect. Mol Ecol 2021; 30:2378-2389. [PMID: 33772940 DOI: 10.1111/mec.15902] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2020] [Revised: 03/16/2021] [Accepted: 03/22/2021] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Humans and other social mammals experience isolation from their group as stressful, triggering behavioural and physiological anomalies that reduce fitness. While social isolation has been intensely studied in social mammals, it is less clear how social insects, which evolved sociality independently, respond to isolation. Here we examined whether the typical mammalian responses to social isolation, e.g., an impaired ability to interact socially and immune suppression are also found in social insects. We studied the consequences of social isolation on behaviour and brain gene expression in the ant Temnothorax nylanderi. Following isolation, workers interacted moderately less with adult nestmates, increased the duration of brood contact, and reduced the time spent self-grooming, an important sanitary behaviour. Our brain transcriptome analysis revealed that only a few behaviour-related genes had altered their expression with isolation time. Rather, many genes linked to immune system functioning and stress response had been downregulated. This probably sensitizes isolated individuals to various stressors, in particular because isolated workers exhibit reduced sanitary behaviour. We provide evidence of the diverse consequences of social isolation in social insects, some of which resemble those found in social mammals, suggesting a general link between social well-being, stress tolerance, and immune competence in social animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Inon Scharf
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Marah Stoldt
- Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - Romain Libbrecht
- Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - Anna Lena Höpfner
- Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - Evelien Jongepier
- Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Marion Kever
- Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - Susanne Foitzik
- Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
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Overwintering Honey Bee Colonies: Effect of Worker Age and Climate on the Hindgut Microbiota. INSECTS 2021; 12:insects12030224. [PMID: 33807581 PMCID: PMC8000648 DOI: 10.3390/insects12030224] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2021] [Revised: 03/01/2021] [Accepted: 03/02/2021] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
Honey bee overwintering health is essential to meet the demands of spring pollination. Managed honey bee colonies are overwintered in a variety of climates, and increasing rates of winter colony loss have prompted investigations into overwintering management, including indoor climate controlled overwintering. Central to colony health, the worker hindgut gut microbiota has been largely ignored in this context. We sequenced the hindgut microbiota of overwintering workers from both a warm southern climate and controlled indoor cold climate. Congruently, we sampled a cohort of known chronological age to estimate worker longevity in southern climates, and assess age-associated changes in the core hindgut microbiota. We found that worker longevity over winter in southern climates was much lower than that recorded for northern climates. Workers showed decreased bacterial and fungal load with age, but the relative structure of the core hindgut microbiome remained stable. Compared to cold indoor wintering, collective microbiota changes in the southern outdoor climate suggest compromised host physiology. Fungal abundance increased by two orders of magnitude in southern climate hindguts and was positively correlated with non-core, likely opportunistic bacteria. Our results contribute to understanding overwintering honey bee biology and microbial ecology and provide insight into overwintering strategies.
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20
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Koch SC, Nelson A, Hartenstein V. Structural aspects of the aging invertebrate brain. Cell Tissue Res 2021; 383:931-947. [PMID: 33409654 PMCID: PMC7965346 DOI: 10.1007/s00441-020-03314-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2020] [Accepted: 09/28/2020] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Aging is characterized by a decline in neuronal function in all animal species investigated so far. Functional changes are accompanied by and may be in part caused by, structurally visible degenerative changes in neurons. In the mammalian brain, normal aging shows abnormalities in dendrites and axons, as well as ultrastructural changes in synapses, rather than global neuron loss. The analysis of the structural features of aging neurons, as well as their causal link to molecular mechanisms on the one hand, and the functional decline on the other hand is crucial in order to understand the aging process in the brain. Invertebrate model organisms like Drosophila and C. elegans offer the opportunity to apply a forward genetic approach to the analysis of aging. In the present review, we aim to summarize findings concerning abnormalities in morphology and ultrastructure in invertebrate brains during normal aging and compare them to what is known for the mammalian brain. It becomes clear that despite of their considerably shorter life span, invertebrates display several age-related changes very similar to the mammalian condition, including the retraction of dendritic and axonal branches at specific locations, changes in synaptic density and increased accumulation of presynaptic protein complexes. We anticipate that continued research efforts in invertebrate systems will significantly contribute to reveal (and possibly manipulate) the molecular/cellular pathways leading to neuronal aging in the mammalian brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sandra C Koch
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Annie Nelson
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Volker Hartenstein
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, California, USA.
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21
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Li GY, Zhang ZQ. Sex-specific response to delayed and repeated mating in spider mite Tetranychus urticae. BULLETIN OF ENTOMOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2021; 111:49-56. [PMID: 32517821 DOI: 10.1017/s0007485320000292] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Sexual interaction is an important activity that determines the reproductive schedule of organisms and can ultimately influence the fitness traits of both sexes. Although the influence of sexual interaction on the fitness of females has been extensively determined, little is known about the effects on males, which often have different mating strategies and optimal mating regimes from those of females. To understand how mating regimes (timing and frequency) modulate the fitness in both sexes, we used spider mite (Tetranychus urticae) to investigate the influence of delayed mating and repeated mating on the fitness of male and female. For females, the unmated and the delayed mating females outlived those mated immediately after adult emergence. The repeated mating shortened the lifespan of females that mated at 1-day-old, but not that mated 7-day-old. However, no significant variation in lifespan was observed for males across different mating regimes. We found although delayed mating significantly reduced the daily reproductive rate of the females, there was no significant difference in lifetime reproduction of females across treatments because the delayed mating females increased their reproductive lifespan as a compensation. Our study highlighted that the time and frequency of sexual interaction showed a sex-specific consequence on male and female spider mites, indicating that sexual interaction incurs a higher cost to females which have a much lower optimal mating frequency than males.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guang-Yun Li
- Centre for Biodiversity and Biosecurity, School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
- Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research, 231 Morrin Road, Auckland1072, New Zealand
| | - Zhi-Qiang Zhang
- Centre for Biodiversity and Biosecurity, School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
- Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research, 231 Morrin Road, Auckland1072, New Zealand
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22
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Koubová J, Sábová M, Brejcha M, Kodrík D, Čapková Frydrychová R. Seasonality in telomerase activity in relation to cell size, DNA replication, and nutrients in the fat body of Apis mellifera. Sci Rep 2021; 11:592. [PMID: 33436732 PMCID: PMC7803764 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-79912-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2020] [Accepted: 12/14/2020] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
In honeybees (Apis mellifera), the rate of aging is modulated through social interactions and according to caste differentiation and the seasonal (winter/summer) generation of workers. Winter generation workers, which hatch at the end of summer, have remarkably extended lifespans as an adaptation to the cold season when the resources required for the growth and reproduction of colonies are limited and the bees need to maintain the colony until the next spring. In contrast, the summer bees only live for several weeks. To better understand the lifespan differences between summer and winter bees, we studied the fat bodies of honeybee workers and identified several parameters that fluctuate in a season-dependent manner. In agreement with the assumption that winter workers possess greater fat body mass, our data showed gradual increases in fat body mass, the size of the fat body cells, and Vg production as the winter season proceeded, as well as contrasting gradual decreases in these parameters in the summer season. The differences in the fat bodies between winter and summer bees are accompanied by respective increases and decreases in telomerase activity and DNA replication in the fat bodies. These data show that although the fat bodies of winter bees differ significantly from those of summer bees, these differences are not a priori set when bees hatch at the end of summer or in early autumn but instead gradually evolve over the course of the season, depending on environmental factors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Justina Koubová
- Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Entomology, Branišovská 31, 370 05, České Budějovice, Czech Republic.,Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - Michala Sábová
- Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Entomology, Branišovská 31, 370 05, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - Miloslav Brejcha
- Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Entomology, Branišovská 31, 370 05, České Budějovice, Czech Republic.,Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - Dalibor Kodrík
- Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Entomology, Branišovská 31, 370 05, České Budějovice, Czech Republic.,Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - Radmila Čapková Frydrychová
- Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Entomology, Branišovská 31, 370 05, České Budějovice, Czech Republic. .,Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, České Budějovice, Czech Republic.
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Yi Y, He XJ, Barron AB, Liu YB, Wang ZL, Yan WY, Zeng ZJ. Transgenerational accumulation of methylome changes discovered in commercially reared honey bee (Apis mellifera) queens. INSECT BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 2020; 127:103476. [PMID: 33053387 DOI: 10.1016/j.ibmb.2020.103476] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2020] [Revised: 09/21/2020] [Accepted: 09/23/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Whether a female honey bee (Apis mellifera) develops into a worker or a queen depends on her nutrition during development, which changes the epigenome to alter the developmental trajectory. Beekeepers typically exploit this developmental plasticity to produce queen bee by transplanting worker larvae into queen cells to be reared as queens, thus redirecting a worker developmental pathway to a queen developmental pathway. We studied the consequences of this manipulation for the queen phenotype and methylome over four generations. Queens reared from worker larvae consistently had fewer ovarioles than queens reared from eggs. Over four generations the methylomes of lines of queens reared from eggs and worker larvae diverged, accumulating increasing differences in exons of genes related to caste differentiation, growth and immunity. We discuss the consequences of these cryptic changes to the honey bee epigenome for the health and viability of honey bee stocks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yao Yi
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, 330045, PR China; Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanchang, Jiangxi, 330004, PR China
| | - Xu Jiang He
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, 330045, PR China
| | - Andrew B Barron
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW, 2109, Australia
| | - Yi Bo Liu
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, 330045, PR China
| | - Zi Long Wang
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, 330045, PR China
| | - Wei Yu Yan
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, 330045, PR China
| | - Zhi Jiang Zeng
- Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, 330045, PR China.
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24
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Shih SR, Huntsman EM, Flores ME, Snow JW. Reproductive potential does not cause loss of heat shock response performance in honey bees. Sci Rep 2020; 10:19610. [PMID: 33184302 PMCID: PMC7661715 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-74456-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2020] [Accepted: 09/28/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
In other species characterized to date, aging, as a function of reproductive potential, results in the breakdown of proteaostasis and a decreased capacity to mount responses by the heat shock response (HSR) and other proteostatic network pathways. Our understanding of the maintenance of stress pathways, such as the HSR, in honey bees, and in the reproductive queen in particular, is incomplete. Based on the findings in other species showing an inverse relationship between reproductive potential and HSR function, one might predict that that HSR function would be lost in the reproductive queens. However, as queens possess an atypical uncoupling of the reproduction-maintenance trade-off typically found in solitary organisms, HSR maintenance might also be expected. Here we demonstrate that reproductive potential does not cause loss of HSR performance in honey bees as queens induce target gene expression to levels comparable to those induced in attendant worker bees. Maintenance of HSR function with advent of reproductive potential is unique among invertebrates studied to date and provides a potential model for examining the molecular mechanisms regulating the uncoupling of the reproduction-maintenance trade-off in queen bees, with important consequences for understanding how stresses impact different types of individuals in honey bee colonies.
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Affiliation(s)
- S R Shih
- Biology Department, Barnard College, New York, NY, 10027, USA
| | - E M Huntsman
- Biology Department, Barnard College, New York, NY, 10027, USA
| | - M E Flores
- Biology Department, Barnard College, New York, NY, 10027, USA
| | - J W Snow
- Biology Department, Barnard College, New York, NY, 10027, USA.
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25
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Honey bee aggression: evaluating causal links to disease-resistance traits and infection. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-020-02887-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
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26
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Giehr J, Senninger L, Ruhland K, Heinze J. Ant workers produce males in queenless parts of multi-nest colonies. Sci Rep 2020; 10:2152. [PMID: 32034171 PMCID: PMC7005753 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-58830-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2019] [Accepted: 01/20/2020] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Workers of several social insects are capable of gaining direct fitness by laying unfertilized eggs, which then develop into males. However, under queenright conditions, direct reproduction of workers is usually prevented by queen-induced regulatory mechanisms. In nature, some ant colonies inhabit multiple nests sites (polydomy). This might allow workers to escape queen control and to reproduce. However, whether worker-produced brood survives after colony reunion in seasonally polydomous species remains unclear. In several species, worker-produced eggs and male-destined larvae are selectively destroyed in queenright colonies. Here, we test whether workers discriminate between queen- and worker-produced larvae during colony reunion. We examined the reproductive success of workers in queenless subcolonies of our study species Temnothorax crassispinus. Our results show that present brood did not inhibit worker reproduction but had a positive effect on worker lifespan. Larvae produced by workers were readily integrated into queenright subcolonies during colony reunion and these larvae successfully developed into adult males.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia Giehr
- University of Regensburg, Zoology/Evolutionary Biology, Universitätsstr. 31, D-93053, Regensburg, Germany.
| | - Lisa Senninger
- University of Regensburg, Zoology/Evolutionary Biology, Universitätsstr. 31, D-93053, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Katja Ruhland
- University of Regensburg, Zoology/Evolutionary Biology, Universitätsstr. 31, D-93053, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Jürgen Heinze
- University of Regensburg, Zoology/Evolutionary Biology, Universitätsstr. 31, D-93053, Regensburg, Germany
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27
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Negri P, Villalobos E, Szawarski N, Damiani N, Gende L, Garrido M, Maggi M, Quintana S, Lamattina L, Eguaras M. Towards Precision Nutrition: A Novel Concept Linking Phytochemicals, Immune Response and Honey Bee Health. INSECTS 2019; 10:E401. [PMID: 31726686 PMCID: PMC6920938 DOI: 10.3390/insects10110401] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2019] [Revised: 11/02/2019] [Accepted: 11/05/2019] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
The high annual losses of managed honey bees (Apis mellifera) has attracted intensive attention, and scientists have dedicated much effort trying to identify the stresses affecting bees. There are, however, no simple answers; rather, research suggests multifactorial effects. Several works have been reported highlighting the relationship between bees' immunosuppression and the effects of malnutrition, parasites, pathogens, agrochemical and beekeeping pesticides exposure, forage dearth and cold stress. Here we analyze a possible connection between immunity-related signaling pathways that could be involved in the response to the stress resulted from Varroa-virus association and cold stress during winter. The analysis was made understanding the honey bee as a superorganism, where individuals are integrated and interacting within the colony, going from social to individual immune responses. We propose the term "Precision Nutrition" as a way to think and study bees' nutrition in the search for key molecules which would be able to strengthen colonies' responses to any or all of those stresses combined.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pedro Negri
- Centro de Investigación en Abejas Sociales (CIAS), Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata (UNMdP), Deán Funes 3350, Mar del Plata CP 7600, Argentina; (N.S.); (N.D.); (L.G.); (M.G.); (M.M.); (S.Q.); (M.E.)
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Godoy Cruz 2290, Buenos Aires C1425FQB, Argentina;
| | - Ethel Villalobos
- Plant and Environmental Protection Sciences, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 3050 Maile Way, 310 Gilmore Hall, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA;
| | - Nicolás Szawarski
- Centro de Investigación en Abejas Sociales (CIAS), Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata (UNMdP), Deán Funes 3350, Mar del Plata CP 7600, Argentina; (N.S.); (N.D.); (L.G.); (M.G.); (M.M.); (S.Q.); (M.E.)
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Godoy Cruz 2290, Buenos Aires C1425FQB, Argentina;
| | - Natalia Damiani
- Centro de Investigación en Abejas Sociales (CIAS), Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata (UNMdP), Deán Funes 3350, Mar del Plata CP 7600, Argentina; (N.S.); (N.D.); (L.G.); (M.G.); (M.M.); (S.Q.); (M.E.)
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Godoy Cruz 2290, Buenos Aires C1425FQB, Argentina;
| | - Liesel Gende
- Centro de Investigación en Abejas Sociales (CIAS), Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata (UNMdP), Deán Funes 3350, Mar del Plata CP 7600, Argentina; (N.S.); (N.D.); (L.G.); (M.G.); (M.M.); (S.Q.); (M.E.)
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Godoy Cruz 2290, Buenos Aires C1425FQB, Argentina;
| | - Melisa Garrido
- Centro de Investigación en Abejas Sociales (CIAS), Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata (UNMdP), Deán Funes 3350, Mar del Plata CP 7600, Argentina; (N.S.); (N.D.); (L.G.); (M.G.); (M.M.); (S.Q.); (M.E.)
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Godoy Cruz 2290, Buenos Aires C1425FQB, Argentina;
| | - Matías Maggi
- Centro de Investigación en Abejas Sociales (CIAS), Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata (UNMdP), Deán Funes 3350, Mar del Plata CP 7600, Argentina; (N.S.); (N.D.); (L.G.); (M.G.); (M.M.); (S.Q.); (M.E.)
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Godoy Cruz 2290, Buenos Aires C1425FQB, Argentina;
| | - Silvina Quintana
- Centro de Investigación en Abejas Sociales (CIAS), Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata (UNMdP), Deán Funes 3350, Mar del Plata CP 7600, Argentina; (N.S.); (N.D.); (L.G.); (M.G.); (M.M.); (S.Q.); (M.E.)
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Godoy Cruz 2290, Buenos Aires C1425FQB, Argentina;
| | - Lorenzo Lamattina
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Godoy Cruz 2290, Buenos Aires C1425FQB, Argentina;
- Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas (IIB-CONICET), UNMdP, Dean Funes 3350, Mar del Plata CP 7600, Argentina
| | - Martin Eguaras
- Centro de Investigación en Abejas Sociales (CIAS), Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata (UNMdP), Deán Funes 3350, Mar del Plata CP 7600, Argentina; (N.S.); (N.D.); (L.G.); (M.G.); (M.M.); (S.Q.); (M.E.)
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Godoy Cruz 2290, Buenos Aires C1425FQB, Argentina;
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Lourenço AP, Martins JR, Torres FAS, Mackert A, Aguiar LR, Hartfelder K, Bitondi MMG, Simões ZLP. Immunosenescence in honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) is caused by intrinsic senescence and behavioral physiology. Exp Gerontol 2019; 119:174-183. [DOI: 10.1016/j.exger.2019.02.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2018] [Revised: 01/30/2019] [Accepted: 02/04/2019] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
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Molina-Serrano D, Kyriakou D, Kirmizis A. Histone Modifications as an Intersection Between Diet and Longevity. Front Genet 2019; 10:192. [PMID: 30915107 PMCID: PMC6422915 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2019.00192] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2018] [Accepted: 02/22/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Histone modifications are key epigenetic regulators that control chromatin structure and gene transcription, thereby impacting on various important cellular phenotypes. Over the past decade, a growing number of studies have indicated that changes in various histone modifications have a significant influence on the aging process. Furthermore, it has been revealed that the abundance and localization of histone modifications are responsive to various environmental stimuli, such as diet, which can also affect gene expression and lifespan. This supports the notion that histone modifications can serve as a main cellular platform for signal integration. Hence, in this review we focus on the role of histone modifications during aging, report the data indicating that diet affects histone modification levels and explore the idea that histone modifications may function as an intersection through which diet regulates lifespan. A greater understanding of the epigenetic mechanisms that link environmental signals to longevity may provide new strategies for therapeutic intervention in age-related diseases and for promoting healthy aging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diego Molina-Serrano
- UMR 6290, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Rennes, France
- Institute of Genetics and Development of Rennes (IGDR), Université de Rennes 1, Rennes, France
| | - Dimitris Kyriakou
- Efevre Tech Ltd., Larnaca, Cyprus
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus
| | - Antonis Kirmizis
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus
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30
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Measuring biological age to assess colony demographics in honeybees. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0209192. [PMID: 30543711 PMCID: PMC6292630 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0209192] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2018] [Accepted: 11/30/2018] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Honeybee colonies are increasingly exposed to environmental stress factors, which can lead to their decline or failure. However, there are major gaps in stressor risk assessment due to the difficulty of assessing the honeybee colony state and detecting abnormal events. Since stress factors usually induce a demographic disturbance in the colony (e.g. loss of foragers, early transition from nurse to forager state), we suggest that disturbances could be revealed indirectly by measuring the age- and task-related physiological state of bees, which can be referred to as biological age (an indicator of the changes in physiological state that occur throughout an individual lifespan). We therefore estimated the biological age of bees from the relationship between age and biomarkers of task specialization (vitellogenin and the adipokinetic hormone receptor). This relationship was determined from a calibrated sample set of known-age bees and mathematically modelled for biological age prediction. Then, we determined throughout the foraging season the evolution of the biological age of bees from colonies with low (conventional apiary) or high Varroa destructor infestation rates (organic apiary). We found that the biological age of bees from the conventional apiary progressively decreased from the spring (17 days) to the fall (6 days). However, in colonies from the organic apiary, the population aged from spring (13 days) to summer (18.5 days) and then rejuvenated in the fall (13 days) after Varroa treatment. Biological age was positively correlated with the amount of brood (open and closed cells) in the apiary with low Varroa pressure, and negatively correlated with Varroa infestation level in the apiary with high Varroa pressure. Altogether, these results show that the estimation of biological age is a useful and effective method for assessing colony demographic state and likely detrimental effects of stress factors.
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31
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Changes in responsiveness to allatostatin treatment accompany shifts in stress reactivity in young worker honey bees. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2018; 205:51-59. [DOI: 10.1007/s00359-018-1302-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2018] [Revised: 10/25/2018] [Accepted: 10/26/2018] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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Shah AK, Kreibich CD, Amdam GV, Münch D. Metabolic enzymes in glial cells of the honeybee brain and their associations with aging, starvation and food response. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0198322. [PMID: 29927967 PMCID: PMC6013123 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0198322] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2017] [Accepted: 05/17/2018] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
The honey bee has been extensively studied as a model for neuronal circuit and memory function and more recently has emerged as an unconventional model in biogerontology. Yet, the detailed knowledge of neuronal processing in the honey bee brain contrasts with the very sparse information available on glial cells. In other systems glial cells are involved in nutritional homeostasis, detoxification, and aging. These glial functions have been linked to metabolic enzymes, such as glutamine synthetase and glycogen phosphorylase. As a step in identifying functional roles and potential differences among honey bee glial types, we examined the spatial distribution of these enzymes and asked if enzyme abundance is associated with aging and other processes essential for survival. Using immunohistochemistry and confocal laser microscopy we demonstrate that glutamine synthetase and glycogen phosphorylase are abundant in glia but appear to co-localize with different glial sub-types. The overall spatial distribution of both enzymes was not homogenous and differed markedly between different neuropiles and also within each neuropil. Using semi-quantitative Western blotting we found that rapid aging, typically observed in shortest-lived worker bees (foragers), was associated with declining enzyme levels. Further, we found enzyme abundance changes after severe starvation stress, and that glutamine synthetase is associated with food response. Together, our data indicate that aging and nutritional physiology in bees are linked to glial specific metabolic enzymes. Enzyme specific localization patterns suggest a functional differentiation among identified glial types.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ashish K. Shah
- Faculty of Chemistry, Biotechnology and Food Science, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Aas, Norway
| | - Claus D. Kreibich
- Faculty of Ecology and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Aas, Norway
| | - Gro V. Amdam
- Faculty of Ecology and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Aas, Norway
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, United States of America
| | - Daniel Münch
- Faculty of Ecology and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Aas, Norway
- * E-mail:
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Arien Y, Dag A, Shafir S. Omega-6:3 Ratio More Than Absolute Lipid Level in Diet Affects Associative Learning in Honey Bees. Front Psychol 2018; 9:1001. [PMID: 29971031 PMCID: PMC6018467 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2018] [Accepted: 05/30/2018] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Floral pollen is a major source of honey bee nutrition that provides them with micro- and macro-nutrients, including proteins, fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals. Different pollens vary in composition, including in the essential fatty acids, alpha-linolenic acid (omega-3) and linoleic acid (omega-6). Monocultures, prevalent in modern agriculture, may expose honey bee colonies to unbalanced omega-6:3 diets. The importance of omega-3 in the diet for adequate learning and cognitive function, with a focus on suitable omega-6:3 ratio, is well documented in mammals. We have recently shown, for the first time in invertebrates, the importance of omega-3 in diets for associative learning ability in honey bees. In the current work, we examine the effect of the absolute amount of omega-3 in diet compared to the omega-6:3 ratio on honey bee associative learning. We fed newly emerged bees for 1 week on different artificial diets, which had lipid concentration of 1, 2, 4, or 8%, with omega-6:3 ratios of 0.3, 1, or 5, respectively. We then tested the bees in a proboscis-extension response olfactory conditioning assay. We found that both omega-6:3 ratio and total lipid concentration affected learning. The most detrimental diet for learning was that with a high omega-6:3 ratio of 5, regardless of the absolute amount of omega-3 in the diet. Bees fed an omega-6:3 ratio of 1, with 4% total lipid concentration achieved the best performance. Our results with honey bees are consistent with those found in mammals. Best cognitive performance is achieved by a diet that is sufficiently rich in essential fatty acids, but as long as the omega-6:3 ratio is not high.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yael Arien
- B. Triwaks Bee Research Center, Department of Entomology, The Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Arnon Dag
- Gilat Research Center, Institute of Plant Sciences, Agricultural Research Organization, Negev, Israel
| | - Sharoni Shafir
- B. Triwaks Bee Research Center, Department of Entomology, The Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot, Israel
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Anderson KE, Ricigliano VA, Mott BM, Copeland DC, Floyd AS, Maes P. The queen's gut refines with age: longevity phenotypes in a social insect model. MICROBIOME 2018; 6:108. [PMID: 29914555 PMCID: PMC6006926 DOI: 10.1186/s40168-018-0489-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2018] [Accepted: 05/29/2018] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND In social insects, identical genotypes can show extreme lifespan variation providing a unique perspective on age-associated microbial succession. In honey bees, short- and long-lived host phenotypes are polarized by a suite of age-associated factors including hormones, nutrition, immune senescence, and oxidative stress. Similar to other model organisms, the aging gut microbiota of short-lived (worker) honey bees accrue Proteobacteria and are depleted of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, consistent with a suite of host senescence markers. In contrast, long-lived (queen) honey bees maintain youthful cellular function with much lower expression of oxidative stress genes, suggesting a very different host environment for age-associated microbial succession. RESULTS We sequenced the microbiota of 63 honey bee queens exploring two chronological ages and four alimentary tract niches. To control for genetic and environmental variation, we quantified carbonyl accumulation in queen fat body tissue as a proxy for biological aging. We compared our results to the age-specific microbial succession of worker guts. Accounting for queen source variation, two or more bacterial species per niche differed significantly by queen age. Biological aging in queens was correlated with microbiota composition highlighting the relationship of microbiota with oxidative stress. Queens and workers shared many major gut bacterial species, but differ markedly in community structure and age succession. In stark contrast to aging workers, carbonyl accumulation in queens was significantly associated with increased Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium and depletion of various Proteobacteria. CONCLUSIONS We present a model system linking changes in gut microbiota to diet and longevity, two of the most confounding variables in human microbiota research. The pattern of age-associated succession in the queen microbiota is largely the reverse of that demonstrated for workers. The guts of short-lived worker phenotypes are progressively dominated by three major Proteobacteria, but these same species were sparse or significantly depleted in long-lived queen phenotypes. More broadly, age-related changes in the honey bee microbiota reflect the regulatory anatomy of reproductive host metabolism. Our synthesis suggests that the evolution of colony-level reproductive physiology formed the context for host-microbial interactions and age-related succession of honey bee microbiota.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kirk E. Anderson
- USDA-ARS Carl Hayden Bee Research Center, 2000 E. Allen Rd, Tucson, AZ 85719 USA
- Department of Entomology and Center for Insect Science, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721 USA
| | | | - Brendon M. Mott
- USDA-ARS Carl Hayden Bee Research Center, 2000 E. Allen Rd, Tucson, AZ 85719 USA
| | - Duan C. Copeland
- Department of Microbiology, School of Animal & Comparative Biomedical Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721 USA
| | - Amy S. Floyd
- Department of Entomology and Center for Insect Science, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721 USA
| | - Patrick Maes
- Department of Entomology and Center for Insect Science, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721 USA
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Leech T, Sait SM, Bretman A. Sex-specific effects of social isolation on ageing in Drosophila melanogaster. JOURNAL OF INSECT PHYSIOLOGY 2017; 102:12-17. [PMID: 28830760 DOI: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2017.08.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2017] [Revised: 08/18/2017] [Accepted: 08/18/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Social environments can have a major impact on ageing profiles in many animals. However, such patterns in variation in ageing and their underlying mechanisms are not well understood, particularly because both social contact and isolation can be stressful. Here, we use Drosophila melanogaster fruitflies to examine sex-specific effects of social contact. We kept flies in isolation versus same-sex pairing throughout life, and measured actuarial (lifespan) and functional senescence (declines in climbing ability). To investigate underlying mechanisms, we determined whether an immune stress (wounding) interacted with effects of social contact, and assessed behaviours that could contribute to differences in ageing rates. Pairing reduced lifespan for both sexes, but the effect was greater for males. In contrast, pairing reduced the rate of decline in climbing ability for females, whereas for males, pairing caused more rapid declines with age. Wounding reduced lifespan for both sexes, but doubled the negative effect of pairing on male lifespan. We found no evidence that these effects are driven by behavioural interactions. These findings suggest that males and females are differentially sensitive to social contact, that environmental stressors can impact actuarial and functional senescence differently, and that these effects can interact with environmental stressors, such as immune challenges.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Leech
- School of Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.
| | - Steven M Sait
- School of Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.
| | - Amanda Bretman
- School of Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.
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36
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Hystad EM, Salmela H, Amdam GV, Münch D. Hemocyte-mediated phagocytosis differs between honey bee (Apis mellifera) worker castes. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0184108. [PMID: 28877227 PMCID: PMC5587260 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0184108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2017] [Accepted: 08/17/2017] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Honey bees as other insects rely on the innate immune system for protection against diseases. The innate immune system includes the circulating hemocytes (immune cells) that clear pathogens from hemolymph (blood) by phagocytosis, nodulation or encapsulation. Honey bee hemocyte numbers have been linked to hemolymph levels of vitellogenin. Vitellogenin is a multifunctional protein with immune-supportive functions identified in a range of species, including the honey bee. Hemocyte numbers can increase via mitosis, and this recruitment process can be important for immune system function and maintenance. Here, we tested if hemocyte mediated phagocytosis differs among the physiologically different honey bee worker castes (nurses, foragers and winter bees), and study possible interactions with vitellogenin and hemocyte recruitment. To this end, we adapted phagocytosis assays, which—together with confocal microscopy and flow cytometry—allow qualitative and quantitative assessment of hemocyte performance. We found that nurses are more efficient in phagocytic uptake than both foragers and winter bees. We detected vitellogenin within the hemocytes, and found that winter bees have the highest numbers of vitellogenin-positive hemocytes. Connections between phagocytosis, hemocyte-vitellogenin and mitosis were worker caste dependent. Our results demonstrate that the phagocytic performance of immune cells differs significantly between honey bee worker castes, and support increased immune competence in nurses as compared to forager bees. Our data, moreover, provides support for roles of vitellogenin in hemocyte activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eva Marit Hystad
- Faculty of Chemistry, Biotechnology and Food Science, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Aas, Norway
- * E-mail:
| | - Heli Salmela
- Department of Biosciences, Centre of Excellence in Biological Interactions, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Gro Vang Amdam
- Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Aas, Norway
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, United States of America
| | - Daniel Münch
- Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Aas, Norway
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Giehr J, Heinze J, Schrempf A. Group demography affects ant colony performance and individual speed of queen and worker aging. BMC Evol Biol 2017; 17:173. [PMID: 28764664 PMCID: PMC5540184 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-017-1026-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2017] [Accepted: 07/26/2017] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Background The performance and fitness of social societies mainly depends on the efficiency of interactions between reproductive individuals and helpers. Helpers need to react to the group’s requirements and to adjust their tasks accordingly, while the reproductive individual has to adjust its reproductive rate. Social insects provide a good system to study the interrelations between individual and group characteristics. In general, sterile workers focus on brood care and foraging while the queen lays eggs. Reproductive division of labor is determined by caste and not interchangeable as, e.g., in social mammals or birds. Hence, changing social and environmental conditions require a flexible response by each caste. In the ant Cardiocondyla obscurior, worker task allocation is based on age polyethism, with young workers focusing on brood care and old workers on foraging. Here, we examine how group age demography affects colony performance and fitness in colonies consisting of only old or young workers and a single old or young queen. We hypothesized that both groups will be fully functional, but that the forced task shift affects the individuals’ performance. Moreover, we expected reduced worker longevity in groups with only young workers due to precocious foraging but no effect on queen longevity depending on group composition. Results Neither the performance of queens nor that of workers declined strongly with time per se, but offspring number and weight were influenced by queen age and the interaction between queen and worker age. Individual residual life expectancy strongly depended on colony demography instead of physiological age. While worker age affected queen longevity only slightly, exposing old workers to the conditions of colony founding increased their life spans by up to 50% relative to workers that had emerged shortly before colony set-up. Conclusions The social environment strongly affected the tempo of aging and senescence in C. obscurior, highlighting the plasticity of life expectancy in social insects. Furthermore, colonies obtained the highest reproductive output when consisting of same-aged queens and workers independent of their physiological age. However, workers appeared to be able to adjust their behavior to the colony’s needs and not to suffer from age-dependent restrictions. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12862-017-1026-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia Giehr
- Zoology/ Evolutionary Biology, University of Regensburg, D-93053, Regensburg, Germany.
| | - Jürgen Heinze
- Zoology/ Evolutionary Biology, University of Regensburg, D-93053, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Alexandra Schrempf
- Zoology/ Evolutionary Biology, University of Regensburg, D-93053, Regensburg, Germany
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Colony adaptive response to simulated heat waves and consequences at the individual level in honeybees (Apis mellifera). Sci Rep 2017. [PMID: 28630407 PMCID: PMC5476575 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-03944-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Since climate change is expected to bring more severe and frequent extreme weather events such as heat waves, assessing the physiological and behavioural sensitivity of organisms to temperature becomes a priority. We therefore investigated the responses of honeybees, an important insect pollinator, to simulated heat waves (SHW). Honeybees are known to maintain strict brood thermoregulation, but the consequences at the colony and individual levels remain poorly understood. For the first time, we quantified and modelled colony real-time activity and found a 70% increase in foraging activity with SHW, which was likely due to the recruitment of previously inactive bees. Pollen and nectar foraging was not impacted, but an increase in water foragers was observed at the expense of empty bees. Contrary to individual energetic resources, vitellogenin levels increased with SHW, probably to protect bees against oxidative stress. Finally, though immune functions were not altered, we observed a significant decrease in deformed wing virus loads with SHW. In conclusion, we demonstrated that honeybees could remarkably adapt to heat waves without a cost at the individual level and on resource flow. However, the recruitment of backup foraging forces might be costly by lowering the colony buffering capacity against additional environmental pressures.
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Bordier C, Suchail S, Pioz M, Devaud JM, Collet C, Charreton M, Le Conte Y, Alaux C. Stress response in honeybees is associated with changes in task-related physiology and energetic metabolism. JOURNAL OF INSECT PHYSIOLOGY 2017; 98:47-54. [PMID: 27908721 DOI: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2016.11.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2016] [Revised: 11/10/2016] [Accepted: 11/22/2016] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
In a rapidly changing environment, honeybee colonies are increasingly exposed to diverse sources of stress (e.g., new parasites, pesticides, climate warming), which represent a challenge to individual and social homeostasis. However, bee physiological responses to stress remain poorly understood. We therefore exposed bees specialised in different tasks (nurses, guards and foragers) to ancient (immune and heat stress) or historically more recent sources of stress (pesticides), and we determined changes in the expression of genes linked to behavioural maturation (vitellogenin - vg and juvenile hormone esterase - jhe) as well as in energetic metabolism (glycogen level, expression level of the receptor to the adipokinetic hormone - akhr, and endothermic performance). While acute exposure to sublethal doses of two pesticides did not affect vg and jhe expression, immune and heat challenges caused a decrease and increase in both genes, respectively, suggesting that bees had responded to ecologically relevant stressors. Since vg and jhe are expressed to a higher level in nurses than in foragers, it is reasonable to assume that an immune challenge stimulated behavioural maturation to decrease potential contamination risk and that a heat challenge promoted a nurse profile for brood thermoregulation. All behavioural castes responded in the same way. Though endothermic performances did not change upon stress exposure, the akhr level dropped in immune and heat-challenged individuals. Similarly, the abdomen glycogen level tended to decline in immune-challenged bees. Altogether, these results suggest that bee responses are stress specific and adaptive but that they tend to entail a reduction of energetic metabolism that needs to be studied on a longer timescale.
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Affiliation(s)
- Célia Bordier
- INRA, UR 406 Abeilles et Environnement, Domaine Saint-Paul, CS 40509, 84914 Avignon, France.
| | - Séverine Suchail
- Institut Méditerranéen de Biodiversité et d'Ecologie marine et continentale, IMBE UAPV AMU IRD, Pôle Agrosciences, 301 rue Baruch de Spinoza, 84916 Avignon, France
| | - Maryline Pioz
- INRA, UR 406 Abeilles et Environnement, Domaine Saint-Paul, CS 40509, 84914 Avignon, France
| | - Jean Marc Devaud
- Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale, Centre de Biologie Intégrative, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, France
| | - Claude Collet
- INRA, UR 406 Abeilles et Environnement, Domaine Saint-Paul, CS 40509, 84914 Avignon, France
| | - Mercedes Charreton
- INRA, UR 406 Abeilles et Environnement, Domaine Saint-Paul, CS 40509, 84914 Avignon, France
| | - Yves Le Conte
- INRA, UR 406 Abeilles et Environnement, Domaine Saint-Paul, CS 40509, 84914 Avignon, France
| | - Cédric Alaux
- INRA, UR 406 Abeilles et Environnement, Domaine Saint-Paul, CS 40509, 84914 Avignon, France
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Mason PH, Maleszka R, Dominguez D. JF. Another stage of development: Biological degeneracy and the study of bodily ageing. Mech Ageing Dev 2017; 163:46-51. [DOI: 10.1016/j.mad.2016.12.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2016] [Accepted: 12/20/2016] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
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Rueppell O, Yousefi B, Collazo J, Smith D. Early life stress affects mortality rate more than social behavior, gene expression or oxidative damage in honey bee workers. Exp Gerontol 2017; 90:19-25. [PMID: 28122251 DOI: 10.1016/j.exger.2017.01.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2016] [Revised: 01/07/2017] [Accepted: 01/19/2017] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Early life stressors can affect aging and life expectancy in positive or negative ways. Individuals can adjust their behavior and molecular physiology based on early life experiences but relatively few studies have connected such mechanisms to demographic patterns in social organisms. Sociality buffers individuals from environmental influences and it is unclear how much early life stress affects later life history. Workers of the honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) were exposed to two stressors, Varroa parasitism and Paraquat exposure, early in life. Consequences were measured at the molecular, behavioral, and demographic level. While treatments did not significantly affect levels of oxidative damage, expression of select genes, and titers of the common deformed wing virus, most of these measures were affected by age. Some of the age effects, such as declining levels of deformed wing virus and oxidative damage, were opposite to our predictions but may be explained by demographic selection. Further analyses suggested some influences of worker behavior on mortality and indicated weak treatment effects on behavior. The latter effects were inconsistent among the two experiments. However, mortality rate was consistently reduced by Varroa mite stress during development. Thus, mortality was more responsive to early life stress than our other response variables. The lack of treatment effects on these measures may be due to the social organization of honey bees that buffers the individual from the impact of stressful developmental conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olav Rueppell
- Department of of Biology, 312 Eberhart Building, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 321 McIver Street, Greensboro, NC 27402, USA.
| | - Babak Yousefi
- Department of of Biology, 312 Eberhart Building, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 321 McIver Street, Greensboro, NC 27402, USA
| | - Juan Collazo
- Department of of Biology, 312 Eberhart Building, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 321 McIver Street, Greensboro, NC 27402, USA
| | - Daniel Smith
- Department of of Biology, 312 Eberhart Building, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 321 McIver Street, Greensboro, NC 27402, USA
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Eyer M, Dainat B, Neumann P, Dietemann V. Social regulation of ageing by young workers in the honey bee, Apis mellifera. Exp Gerontol 2016; 87:84-91. [PMID: 27865886 DOI: 10.1016/j.exger.2016.11.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2016] [Revised: 11/11/2016] [Accepted: 11/14/2016] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Organisms' lifespans are modulated by both genetic and environmental factors. The lifespan of eusocial insects is determined by features of the division of labor, which itself is influenced by social regulatory mechanisms. In the honey bee, Apis mellifera, the presence of brood and of old workers carrying out foraging tasks are important social drivers of ageing, but the influence of young adult workers is unknown, as it has not been experimentally teased apart from that of brood. In this study, we test the role of young workers in the ageing of their nestmates. We measured the impact of different social contexts characterized by the absence of brood and/or young adults on the lifespan of worker nestmates in field colonies. To acquire insight into the physiological processes occurring under these contexts, we analyzed the expression of genes known to affect honey bee ageing. The data showed that young workers significantly reduced the lifespan of nestmate workers, similar to the effect of brood on its own. Differential expression of vitellogenin, major royal jelly protein-1, and methylase transferase, but not methyl farneosate epoxidase genes suggests that young workers and brood influence ageing of adult nestmate workers via different physiological pathways. We identify young workers as an essential part of the social regulation of ageing in honey bee colonies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Eyer
- Agroscope, Swiss Bee Research Centre, Schwarzenburgstrasse 161, 3003 Bern, Switzerland; Institute of Bee Health, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, 3003 Bern, Switzerland.
| | - Benjamin Dainat
- Agroscope, Swiss Bee Research Centre, Schwarzenburgstrasse 161, 3003 Bern, Switzerland; Swiss Bee Health Service, Bienengesundheitsdienst, Apiservice, Schwarzenburgstrasse 161, 3003 Bern, Switzerland
| | - Peter Neumann
- Agroscope, Swiss Bee Research Centre, Schwarzenburgstrasse 161, 3003 Bern, Switzerland; Institute of Bee Health, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, 3003 Bern, Switzerland; Bee Protection Laboratory, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand
| | - Vincent Dietemann
- Agroscope, Swiss Bee Research Centre, Schwarzenburgstrasse 161, 3003 Bern, Switzerland; Social Insect Research Group, Zoology and Entomology Department, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
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43
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Giraldo YM, Kamhi JF, Fourcassié V, Moreau M, Robson SKA, Rusakov A, Wimberly L, Diloreto A, Kordek A, Traniello JFA. Lifespan behavioural and neural resilience in a social insect. Proc Biol Sci 2016; 283:rspb.2015.2603. [PMID: 26740614 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2015.2603] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Analyses of senescence in social species are important to understanding how group living influences the evolution of ageing in society members. Social insects exhibit remarkable lifespan polyphenisms and division of labour, presenting excellent opportunities to test hypotheses concerning ageing and behaviour. Senescence patterns in other taxa suggest that behavioural performance in ageing workers would decrease in association with declining brain functions. Using the ant Pheidole dentata as a model, we found that 120-day-old minor workers, having completed 86% of their laboratory lifespan, showed no decrease in sensorimotor functions underscoring complex tasks such as alloparenting and foraging. Collaterally, we found no age-associated increases in apoptosis in functionally specialized brain compartments or decreases in synaptic densities in the mushroom bodies, regions associated with integrative processing. Furthermore, brain titres of serotonin and dopamine--neuromodulators that could negatively impact behaviour through age-related declines--increased in old workers. Unimpaired task performance appears to be based on the maintenance of brain functions supporting olfaction and motor coordination independent of age. Our study is the first to comprehensively assess lifespan task performance and its neurobiological correlates and identify constancy in behavioural performance and the absence of significant age-related neural declines.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - J Frances Kamhi
- Department of Biology, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Vincent Fourcassié
- Research Center on Animal Cognition, CNRS, Toulouse 31062 Cedex 9, France Research Center on Animal Cognition, Université de Toulouse, Toulouse 31062 Cedex 9, France
| | - Mathieu Moreau
- Research Center on Animal Cognition, CNRS, Toulouse 31062 Cedex 9, France Research Center on Animal Cognition, Université de Toulouse, Toulouse 31062 Cedex 9, France
| | - Simon K A Robson
- College of Marine and Environmental Science, James Cook University, Townsville 4811, Australia
| | - Adina Rusakov
- Department of Biology, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | | | | | - Adrianna Kordek
- Department of Biology, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA
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de Verges J, Nehring V. A critical look at proximate causes of social insect senescence: damage accumulation or hyperfunction? CURRENT OPINION IN INSECT SCIENCE 2016; 16:69-75. [PMID: 27720053 DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2016.05.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2016] [Revised: 04/26/2016] [Accepted: 05/02/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Social insects have received attention for their extreme lifespan variation and reversal of the fecundity/longevity trade-off. However, proximate causes of senescence in general are disputed, and social insects often fail to meet the predictions of prevailing models. We present evidence for and against the long-held free radical theory of aging in social insects, and consider the application of the competing hyperfunction theory. Current results present problems for both theories, and a more complex picture of the biological processes involved emerges. The eusocial life style might allow colonies to allocate damage in ways that create seemingly senescence-free life histories. Only experimental approaches characterizing multiple senescence factors simultaneously will shed light on how social insects defy the conventions of senescence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jane de Verges
- University of Freiburg, Biology I, Evolution & Ecology, Hauptstraße 1, D-79104 Freiburg, Germany
| | - Volker Nehring
- University of Freiburg, Biology I, Evolution & Ecology, Hauptstraße 1, D-79104 Freiburg, Germany.
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45
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Arey RN, Murphy CT. Conserved regulators of cognitive aging: From worms to humans. Behav Brain Res 2016; 322:299-310. [PMID: 27329151 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2016.06.035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2016] [Revised: 05/27/2016] [Accepted: 06/17/2016] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
Cognitive decline is a major deficit that arises with age in humans. While some research on the underlying causes of these problems can be done in humans, harnessing the strengths of small model systems, particularly those with well-studied longevity mutants, such as the nematode C. elegans, will accelerate progress. Here we review the approaches being used to study cognitive decline in model organisms and show how simple model systems allow the rapid discovery of conserved molecular mechanisms, which will eventually enable the development of therapeutics to slow cognitive aging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachel N Arey
- Department of Molecular Biology & LSI Genomics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, United States
| | - Coleen T Murphy
- Department of Molecular Biology & LSI Genomics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, United States.
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46
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Garrido PM, Porrini MP, Antúnez K, Branchiccela B, Martínez-Noël GMA, Zunino P, Salerno G, Eguaras MJ, Ieno E. Sublethal effects of acaricides and Nosema ceranae infection on immune related gene expression in honeybees. Vet Res 2016; 47:51. [PMID: 27118545 PMCID: PMC4847213 DOI: 10.1186/s13567-016-0335-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2015] [Accepted: 01/18/2016] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Nosema ceranae is an obligate intracellular parasite and the etiologic agent of Nosemosis that affects honeybees. Beside the stress caused by this pathogen, honeybee colonies are exposed to pesticides under beekeeper intervention, such as acaricides to control Varroa mites. These compounds can accumulate at high concentrations in apicultural matrices. In this work, the effects of parasitosis/acaricide on genes involved in honeybee immunity and survival were evaluated. Nurse bees were infected with N. ceranae and/or were chronically treated with sublethal doses of coumaphos or tau-fluvalinate, the two most abundant pesticides recorded in productive hives. Our results demonstrate the following: (1) honeybee survival was not affected by any of the treatments; (2) parasite development was not altered by acaricide treatments; (3) coumaphos exposure decreased lysozyme expression; (4) N. ceranae reduced levels of vitellogenin transcripts independently of the presence of acaricides. However, combined effects among stressors on imagoes were not recorded. Sublethal doses of acaricides and their interaction with other ubiquitous parasites in colonies, extending the experimental time, are of particular interest in further research work.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paula Melisa Garrido
- />Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Centro de Investigación en Abejas Sociales, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata–CONICET, Mar Del Plata, Buenos Aires Argentina
| | - Martín Pablo Porrini
- />Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Centro de Investigación en Abejas Sociales, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata–CONICET, Mar Del Plata, Buenos Aires Argentina
| | - Karina Antúnez
- />Departamento de Microbiología, Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas Clemente Estable, Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Belén Branchiccela
- />Departamento de Microbiología, Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas Clemente Estable, Montevideo, Uruguay
| | | | - Pablo Zunino
- />Departamento de Microbiología, Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas Clemente Estable, Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Graciela Salerno
- />Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Biotecnología (INBIOTEC-CONICET), CIB-FIBA, Mar Del Plata, Argentina
| | - Martín Javier Eguaras
- />Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Centro de Investigación en Abejas Sociales, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata–CONICET, Mar Del Plata, Buenos Aires Argentina
| | - Elena Ieno
- />Highland Statistics, 03130 Alicante, Spain
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Wang Y, Kaftanoglu O, Brent CS, Page RE, Amdam GV. Starvation stress during larval development facilitates an adaptive response in adult worker honey bees (Apis mellifera L.). J Exp Biol 2016; 219:949-59. [DOI: 10.1242/jeb.130435] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2015] [Accepted: 12/22/2015] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
ABSTRACT
Most organisms are constantly faced with environmental changes and stressors. In diverse organisms, there is an anticipatory mechanism during development that can program adult phenotypes. The adult phenotype would be adapted to the predicted environment that occurred during organism maturation. However, whether this anticipatory mechanism is present in eusocial species is questionable because eusocial organisms are largely shielded from exogenous conditions by their stable nest environment. In this study, we tested whether food deprivation during development of the honey bee (Apis mellifera), a eusocial insect model, can shift adult phenotypes to better cope with nutritional stress. After subjecting fifth instar worker larvae to short-term starvation, we measured nutrition-related morphology, starvation resistance, physiology, endocrinology and behavior in the adults. We found that the larval starvation caused adult honey bees to become more resilient toward starvation. Moreover, the adult bees were characterized by reduced ovary size, elevated glycogen stores and juvenile hormone (JH) titers, and decreased sugar sensitivity. These changes, in general, can help adult insects survive and reproduce in food-poor environments. Overall, we found for the first time support for an anticipatory mechanism in a eusocial species, the honey bee. Our results suggest that this mechanism may play a role in honey bee queen–worker differentiation and worker division of labor, both of which are related to the responses to nutritional stress.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ying Wang
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
| | - Osman Kaftanoglu
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
| | - Colin S. Brent
- US Department of Agriculture, Arid-Land Agricultural Research Center, Maricopa, AZ 85138, USA
| | - Robert E. Page
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
- Department of Entomology and Nematology, University of California Davis, Davis, CA 96616, USA
- Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA
| | - Gro V. Amdam
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
- Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Department of Ecology and Natural Resource Management, Aas, N-1432, Norway
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48
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Lockett GA, Almond EJ, Huggins TJ, Parker JD, Bourke AFG. Gene expression differences in relation to age and social environment in queen and worker bumble bees. Exp Gerontol 2016; 77:52-61. [PMID: 26883339 DOI: 10.1016/j.exger.2016.02.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2015] [Revised: 01/24/2016] [Accepted: 02/12/2016] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
Eusocial insects provide special insights into the genetic pathways influencing aging because of their long-lived queens and flexible aging schedules. Using qRT-PCR in the primitively eusocial bumble bee Bombus terrestris (Linnaeus), we investigated expression levels of four candidate genes associated with taxonomically widespread age-related pathways (coenzyme Q biosynthesis protein 7, COQ7; DNA methyltransferase 3, Dnmt3; foraging, for; and vitellogenin, vg). In Experiment 1, we tested how expression changes with queen relative age and productivity. We found a significant age-related increase in COQ7 expression in queen ovary. In brain, all four genes showed higher expression with increasing female (queen plus worker) production, with this relationship strengthening as queen age increased, suggesting a link with the positive association of fecundity and longevity found in eusocial insect queens. In Experiment 2, we tested effects of relative age and social environment (worker removal) in foundress queens and effects of age and reproductive status in workers. In this experiment, workerless queens showed significantly higher for expression in brain, as predicted if downregulation of for is associated with the cessation of foraging by foundress queens following worker emergence. Workers showed a significant age-related increase in Dnmt3 expression in fat body, suggesting a novel association between aging and methylation in B. terrestris. Ovary activation was associated with significantly higher vg expression in fat body and, in younger workers, in brain, consistent with vitellogenin's ancestral role in regulating egg production. Overall, our findings reveal a mixture of novel and conserved features in age-related genetic pathways under primitive eusociality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabrielle A Lockett
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Southampton, Life Sciences Building, Highfield Campus, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK
| | - Edward J Almond
- School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK
| | - Timothy J Huggins
- School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK
| | - Joel D Parker
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Southampton, Life Sciences Building, Highfield Campus, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK
| | - Andrew F G Bourke
- School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK.
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Speth MT, Kreibich CD, Amdam GV, Münch D. Aging- and task-related resilience decline is linked to food responsiveness in highly social honey bees. Exp Gerontol 2015; 65:46-52. [DOI: 10.1016/j.exger.2015.03.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2014] [Revised: 03/04/2015] [Accepted: 03/08/2015] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
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Symonowicz B, Kieruzel M, Szczuka A, Korczyńska J, Wnuk A, Mazurkiewicz PJ, Chiliński M, Godzińska EJ. Behavioral Reversion and Dark-Light Choice Behavior in Workers of the Red Wood Ant Formica polyctena. JOURNAL OF INSECT BEHAVIOR 2015; 28:245-256. [PMID: 26005288 PMCID: PMC4435637 DOI: 10.1007/s10905-015-9496-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Revised: 03/03/2015] [Accepted: 03/17/2015] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Social insect workers usually start adult life from intranidal tasks and then switch to extranidal activities, but this process may be reversed: foragers may switch again to intranidal brood care. The transition forager - reverted nurse is known as the behavioral reversion. Ant foragers are known to avoid illuminated zones less strongly than intranidal workers, but illumination responses of reverted nurses were so far never investigated. We compared dark-light choice behavior of three classes of workers of the red wood ant Formica polyctena: nurses, foragers and reverted nurses. Sets of ten ants belonging to the same class were tested in "double nests" made of two interconnected test tubes, one kept in darkness and the other exposed to light. The number of ants present in the illuminated zone of each nest (ni) was recorded on 10 sample points at 30 min intervals. The values of ni were lower in nurses than in foragers and reverted nurses and decreased as a function of time in all three groups. Nurses differed from foragers with respect to the dynamics of dark-light choice behavior, but reverted nurses did not differ in that respect either from nurses, or from foragers. Reverted nurses and foragers did not differ significantly from each other with respect to the overall level of avoidance of illuminated zone, nor with respect to the dynamics of dark-light choice behavior. This implies that behavioral reversion is not accompanied by the return of illumination responses of workers of F. polyctena to the state characteristic for nurses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Beata Symonowicz
- Department of Neurophysiology Laboratory of Ethology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Pasteur St 3, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Maria Kieruzel
- Department of Neurophysiology Laboratory of Ethology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Pasteur St 3, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Anna Szczuka
- Department of Neurophysiology Laboratory of Ethology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Pasteur St 3, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Julita Korczyńska
- Department of Neurophysiology Laboratory of Ethology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Pasteur St 3, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Andrzej Wnuk
- Department of Neurophysiology Laboratory of Ethology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Pasteur St 3, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Paweł Jarosław Mazurkiewicz
- Department of Neurophysiology Laboratory of Ethology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Pasteur St 3, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
- College of Inter-Faculty Individual Studies in Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Warsaw, Żwirki i Wigury St. 93, 02-089 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Michał Chiliński
- College of Inter-Faculty Individual Studies in Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Warsaw, Żwirki i Wigury St. 93, 02-089 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Ewa Joanna Godzińska
- Department of Neurophysiology Laboratory of Ethology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Pasteur St 3, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
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