Correction: Synergies of integrated pest and pollinator management in avocado farming in East Africa: An ex-ante economic analysis.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Insects' essential role in understanding and broadening animal medication.

Like humans, animals use plants and other materials as medication against parasites. Recent decades have shown that the study of insects can greatly advance our understanding of medication behaviors. The ease of rearing insects under laboratory conditions has enabled controlled experiments to test critical hypotheses, while their spectrum of reproductive strategies and living arrangements - ranging from solitary to eusocial communities - has revealed that medication behaviors can evolve to maximize inclusive fitness through both direct and indirect fitness benefits.

Seasonal and elevational changes of plant-pollinator interaction networks in East African mountains.

Across an elevation gradient, several biotic and abiotic factors influence community assemblages of interacting species leading to a shift in species distribution, functioning, and ultimately topologies of species interaction networks. However, empirical studies of climate-driven seasonal and elevational changes in plant-pollinator networks are rare, particularly in tropical ecosystems. Eastern Afromontane Biodiversity Hotspots in Kenya, East Africa.

Interactions between integrated pest management, pollinator supplementation, and normalized difference vegetation index in pumpkin, Cucurbita maxima (Cucurbitales: Cucurbitaceae), production.

Sustainable production of pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima Duchesne) partly relies on integrated pest management (IPM) and pollination services. A farmer-managed field study was carried out in Yatta and Masinga Sub-Counties of Machakos County, Kenya, to determine the effectiveness of a recommended IPM package and its interaction with stingless bee colonies (Hypotrigona sp.) for pollinator supplementation (PS).

Phytochemical composition and bio-functional properties of propolis from Kenya.

There is an increased demand for natural products like propolis, yet little information is available about the chemical composition of African propolis and its bio-functional properties. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to quantify the phytochemicals and determine the antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of propolis ( = 59) sourced from various regions in Kenya. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that the sampling region had a remarkable impact on the propolis's composition and bio-functional properties.

Susceptibility of the Western Honey Bee Apis mellifera and the African Stingless Bee Meliponula ferruginea (Hymenoptera: Apidae) to the Entomopathogenic Fungi Metarhizium anisopliae and Beauveria bassiana.

This study assessed the nontarget effect of entomopathogenic fungi on the Western honey bee Apis mellifera L. and the African stingless bee Meliponula ferruginea Cockrell (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Pathogenicity of five Metarhizium anisopliae (ICIPE 7, ICIPE 20, ICIPE 62, ICIPE 69, and ICIPE 78) (Metschnikoff) Sorokin (Hypocreales: Clavicipitaceae) and one of Beauveria bassiana (ICIPE 284) (Balsamo) Vuillemin (Hypocreales: Cordicipitaceae) isolates were evaluated on bees at 108 conidia/ml.

A global-scale expert assessment of drivers and risks associated with pollinator decline.

Pollinator decline has attracted global attention and substantial efforts are underway to respond through national pollinator strategies and action plans. These policy responses require clarity on what is driving pollinator decline and what risks it generates for society in different parts of the world. Using a formal expert elicitation process, we evaluated the relative regional and global importance of eight drivers of pollinator decline and ten consequent risks to human well-being.

Coexistence of honeybees with distinct mitochondrial haplotypes and hybridised nuclear genomes on the Comoros Islands.

The honeybee, Apis mellifera, is a globally distributed species that has spread both naturally and by humans across the globe resulting in many natural and secondary contact zones. The geographic isolation of honeybees is likely to contribute to genetic differentiation. Secondary contact has resulted in hybridization at the nuclear genome, but replacement of mitochondrial.

Bioactive constituents, radical scavenging and antibacterial activities of selected honey from Kenya.

There is limited information about the relative composition and health benefits of various honey consumed across Africa. This study aimed at estimating the bioactive constituents, radical scavenging and antibacterial activities of 16 kinds of honey obtained from different geographical locations in Kenya. Manuka 5 + honey was included for comparison.

Population abundance of Varroa destructor and its effects on Apis mellifera scutellata colonies in Kenya.

The devastating effects of Varroa destructor Anderson and Trueman on Western honeybee colonies (Apis mellifera L.) have been well documented. Not only do these mites cause physical damage to parasitized individuals when they feed on them, but they also transmit viruses and other pathogens, weaken colonies and ultimately may cause their death.

Evolutionary Genomics at the Human-Environment Interface in Africa.

We report on the first meeting of SMBE in Africa. SMBE Malawi was initiated to bring together African and international researchers who use genetics or genomics to study natural systems impacted by human activities. The goals of this conference were 1) to reach a world-class standard of science with a large number of contributions from Africa, 2) to initiate exchange between African and international researchers, and 3) to identify challenges and opportunities for evolutionary genomics research in Africa.

Tissue Specificity in Social Context-Dependent Expression in Bumblebees.

Group living at high densities may result in the enhanced transmission of pathogens. Social insects are obligate group-living species, which often also exhibit high relatedness and frequent social interactions amongst individuals, resulting in a high risk of disease spread. Social species seem to exhibit immune systems that provide colonies of social insects with a certain level of flexibility for adjustment of immune activity according to the risk of disease spread.

The Invasion of the Dwarf Honeybee, , along the River Nile in Sudan.

The spread of the dwarf honeybee, , in Sudan along the river Nile in a linear fashion provides a good model for studying the population dynamics and genetic effects of an invasion by a honeybee species. We use microsatellite DNA analyses to assess the population structure of both invasive and native along the river Nile. The invasive had significantly higher population densities than the wild, native .

Role of conspecifics and personal experience on behavioral avoidance of contaminated flowers by bumblebees.

Pollinators use multiple cues whilst foraging including direct cues from flowers and indirect cues from other pollinators. The use of indirect social cues is common in social insects, such as honeybees and bumblebees, where a social environment facilitates the ability to use such cues. Bumblebees use cues to forage on flowers according to previous foraging experiences.

Unity in defence: honeybee workers exhibit conserved molecular responses to diverse pathogens.

Background: Organisms typically face infection by diverse pathogens, and hosts are thought to have developed specific responses to each type of pathogen they encounter. The advent of transcriptomics now makes it possible to test this hypothesis and compare host gene expression responses to multiple pathogens at a genome-wide scale. Here, we performed a meta-analysis of multiple published and new transcriptomes using a newly developed bioinformatics approach that filters genes based on their expression profile across datasets.

Comparative analyses of the major royal jelly protein gene cluster in three Apis species with long amplicon sequencing.

The western honeybee, Apis mellifera is a prominent model organism in the field of sociogenomics and a recent upgrade substantially improved annotations of the reference genome. Nevertheless, genome assemblies based on short-sequencing reads suffer from problems in regions comprising e.g.

Patterns of molecular evolution of RNAi genes in social and socially parasitic bumblebees.

The high frequency of interactions amongst closely related individuals in social insect colonies enhances pathogen transmission. Group-mediated behavior supporting immune defenses tends to decrease selection acting on immune genes. Along with low effective population sizes this might result in relaxed constraint and rapid evolution of immune system genes.

A depauperate immune repertoire precedes evolution of sociality in bees.

Background: Sociality has many rewards, but can also be dangerous, as high population density and low genetic diversity, common in social insects, is ideal for parasite transmission. Despite this risk, honeybees and other sequenced social insects have far fewer canonical immune genes relative to solitary insects. Social protection from infection, including behavioral responses, may explain this depauperate immune repertoire.

The genomes of two key bumblebee species with primitive eusocial organization.

Background: The shift from solitary to social behavior is one of the major evolutionary transitions. Primitively eusocial bumblebees are uniquely placed to illuminate the evolution of highly eusocial insect societies. Bumblebees are also invaluable natural and agricultural pollinators, and there is widespread concern over recent population declines in some species.

A selective sweep in a Varroa destructor resistant honeybee (Apis mellifera) population.

The mite Varroa destructor is one of the most dangerous parasites of the Western honeybee (Apis mellifera) causing enormous colony losses worldwide. Various chemical treatments for the control of the Varroa mite are currently in use, which, however, lead to residues in bee products and often to resistance in mites. This facilitated the exploration of alternative treatment methods and breeding for mite resistant honeybees has been in focus for breeders in many parts of the world with variable results.

Rapid evolution of antimicrobial peptide genes in an insect host-social parasite system.

Selection, as a major driver for evolution in host-parasite interactions, may act on two levels; the virulence of the pathogen, and the hosts' defence system. Effectors of the host defence system might evolve faster than other genes e.g.

A selective sweep in a microsporidian parasite Nosema-tolerant honeybee population, Apis mellifera.

Nosema is a microsporidian parasite of the honeybee, which infects the epithelial cells of the gut. In Denmark, honeybee colonies have been selectively bred for the absence of Nosema over decades, resulting in a breeding line that is tolerant toward Nosema infections. As the tolerance toward the Nosema infection is a result of artificial selection, we screened chromosome 14 for a selective sweep with microsatellite markers, where a major quantitative trait locus (QTL) had been identified to be involved in the reduction in Nosema spores in the honeybees.

Genetic underpinnings of division of labor in the honeybee (Apis mellifera).

Honeybees have been studied for centuries, starting with Aristotle, who wrote the first book about bee breeding. More than 2000 years later, the honeybee entered the genomic era as the first social insect whose genome was sequenced, leading to significant insight into the molecular mechanisms underlying social behavior. In addition, gene expression studies and knockdown using RNAi have extended the understanding of social interactions.