Tracking Existing Factors Directly Affecting the Reproduction of Bumblebees: Current Knowledge.

Bumblebees are primary social insects and a vital class of pollinating insects. Their distinctive reproductive mode is characterized by the independent initiation and construction of the nest by the queen and the subsequent production of sufficient workers, males, and gynes following colony development. After successful mating, the queen transitions to the first phase of its annual life cycle.

Preliminary Study on the Pathogenic Mechanism of Jujube Flower Disease in Honeybees () Based on Midgut Transcriptomics.

Honeybees are prone to poisoning, also known as jujube flower disease, after collecting nectar from jujube flowers, resulting in the tumultuous demise of foragers. The prevalence of jujube flower disease has become one of the main factors affecting the development of the jujube and beekeeping industries in Northern China. However, the pathogenic mechanisms underlying jujube flower disease in honeybees are poorly understood.

Regulatory roles of long non-coding RNAs in short-term heat stress in adult worker bees.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are crucial modulators of post-transcriptional gene expression regulation, cell fate determination, and disease development. However, lncRNA functions during short-term heat stress in adult worker bees are poorly understood. Here, we performed deep sequencing and bioinformatic analyses of honeybee lncRNAs.

Insulin receptor participates in the peripheral olfactory processes of honey bees (Apis cerana cerana).

Insulin receptors (InR) are an integral component of the insulin/insulin-like growth factor signaling pathway, which plays a vital role in insect development, lifespan, reproduction, and olfactory sensitivity. However, whether InR participate in the peripheral olfactory system of insects remains unclear. Recently, we found that 2-heptanone (2-HT) affects AcerInR expression, the gene for an InR protein, in Apis cerana cerana.

Propolis Ethanolic Extract Attenuates D-gal-induced C2C12 Cell Injury by Modulating Nrf2/HO-1 and p38/p53 Signaling Pathways.

Previous study has shown that propolis ethanolic extract (PEE) has a protective effect on aging skeletal muscle atrophy. However, the exact molecular mechanism remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the effect of PEE on D-galactose (D-gal)-induced damage in mouse C2C12 cells.

Honeybees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) Adapt to the Shock of High Temperature and High Humidity Through Changes in Sugars and Polyols and Free Amino Acids.

Temperature and humidity are important factors affecting the honeybees physiological metabolism. When honeybees are stressed by high temperature and high humidity, various physiological stress mechanisms evolved by bees are activated in response to injury. The accumulation of some sugars, polyols, and free amino acids can effectively protect cell structure stability and resist temperature stress.

Differences in EAG Response and Behavioral Choices between Honey Bee and Bumble Bee to Tomato Flower Volatiles.

Bumble bees and honey bees are of vital importance for tomato pollination, although honey bees are less attracted to tomato flowers than bumble bees. Little is known about how tomato flower volatile compounds influence the foraging behaviors of honey bees and bumble bees. In this study, compounds of tomato flower volatiles were detected by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Electrophysiological and Behavioral Responses of and to Melon Flower Volatiles.

As important pollinators, honeybees and bumblebees present a pollination behavior that is influenced by flower volatiles through the olfactory system. In this study, volatile compounds from melon flowers were isolated and identified by headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and their effects on and were investigated by electroantennogram (EAG) and behavior tests (Y-tube olfactometer). The results showed that 77 volatile compounds were detected in melon flowers, among which the relative content of aldehydes was the highest (61.

A Combined Proteomic and Metabolomic Strategy for Allergens Characterization in Natural and Fermented Bee Pollen.

Bee pollen is consumed for its nutritional and pharmacological benefits, but it also contains hazardous allergens which have not been identified. Here, we identified two potential allergens, glutaredoxin and oleosin-B2, in bee pollen using mass spectrometry-based proteomics analyses, and used bioinformatics to predict their antigenic epitopes. Comparison of fermented (by ) and unfermented bee pollen samples indicated that glutaredoxin and oleosin-B2 contents were significantly decreased following fermentation, while the contents of their major constituent oligopeptides and amino acids were significantly increased based on metabolomics analyses.

The Transcriptomic Landscape of Molecular Effects after Sublethal Exposure to Dinotefuran on .

The decreasing number of bees is a global ecological problem. With the advancement of agricultural modernisation, the large-scale use of neonicotinoid insecticides is one of the main factors leading to the decline of bees. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect and the mechanisms underlying bees impaired by dinotefuran.

Pollen Source Affects Development and Behavioral Preferences in Honey Bees.

With the availability of various plants in bloom simultaneously, honey bees prefer to collect some pollen types over others. To better understand pollen's role as a reward for workers, we compared the digestibility and nutritional value of two pollen diets, namely, pear ( Rehd.) and apricot ( L.

Transcriptomic analysis reveals Apis mellifera adaptations to high temperature and high humidity.

Temperature and humidity are the most important factors affecting the growth, reproduction, and survival of bees. Apis mellifera are important pollinating bees that are widely used in agricultural systems. However, the higher temperatures and humidity in greenhouses are not conducive to the survival of bees.

Contact Chemosensory Genes Identified in Leg Transcriptome of Apis cerana cerana (Hymenoptera: Apidae).

Correct gustatory recognition and selection of foods both within and outside the hive by honey bee workers are fundamental to the maintenance of colonies. The tarsal chemosensilla located on the legs of workers are sensitive to nonvolatile compounds and proposed to be involved in gustatory detection. However, little is known about the molecular mechanisms underlying the gustatory recognition of foods in honey bees.

Tolerance and response of two honeybee species Apis cerana and Apis mellifera to high temperature and relative humidity.

The ambient temperature and relative humidity affect the metabolic and physiological responses of bees, thus affecting their life activities. However, the physiological changes in bee due to high temperature and high humidity remain poorly understood. In this study, we explored the effects of higher temperature and humidity on the epiphysiology of bees by evaluating the survival, tolerance and body water loss in two bee species (Apis cerana and Apis mellifera).

First Record of the Velvet Ant (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae) Parasitizing the Bumblebee (Hymenoptera: Apidae).

Mutillid wasps are ectoparasitic insects that parasitize the enclosed developmental stages of their hosts. Adults are sexually dimorphic, with brilliantly colored and hardened cuticles. The biology of parasitic mutillid wasps has rarely been addressed.

Expressional and functional interactions of two olfactory receptors.

relies on its sensitive olfactory system to perform foraging activities in the surrounding environment. Olfactory receptors (ORs) are a primary requirement for odorant recognition and coding. However, the molecular recognition of volatile compounds with ORs in is still not clear.

Expression Characterization and Localization of the foraging Gene in the Chinese Bee, Apis cerana cerana (Hymenoptera: Apidae).

In social insects, the foraging gene (for) regulates insect age- and task-based foraging behaviors. We studied the expression and localization of the for gene (Acfor) in Apis cerana cerana workers to explore whether the differential regulation of this gene is associated with the behaviors of nurses and foragers. The expression profiles of Acfor in different tissues and at different ages were examined using real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction.

Odorant receptor might be related to sperm DNA integrity in Apis cerana cerana.

Olfactory receptors (ORs) are important for insects to recognize and discriminate odorants in the environment and are mainly expressed in olfactory and gustatory organs. Little is known about the potential OR functions in non-olfactory tissues. In the present study, we evaluated the possibility of odorant receptors AcerOr1 and AcerOr2 (AcerOr2 is orthologous to the co-receptor) mediating sperm DNA integrity, and the relationship between sperm DNA integrity and semen parameters in Apis cerana cerana.

Comparative antennal transcriptome of Apis cerana cerana from four developmental stages.

Apis cerana cerana, an important endemic honey bee species in China, possesses valuable characteristics such as a sensitive olfactory system, good foraging ability, and strong resistance to parasitic mites. Here, we performed transcriptome sequencing of the antenna, the major chemosensory organ of the bee, using an Illumina sequencer, to identify typical differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in adult worker bees of different ages, namely, T1 (1 day); T2 (10 days); T3 (15 days); and T4 (25 days). Surprisingly, the expression levels of DEGs changed significantly between the T1 period and the other three periods.

Correction: Transcriptomic analysis to uncover genes affecting cold resistance in the Chinese honey bee (Apis cerana cerana).

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

Transcriptomic analysis to uncover genes affecting cold resistance in the Chinese honey bee (Apis cerana cerana).

The biological activity and geographical distribution of honey bees is strongly temperature-dependent, due to their ectothermic physiology. In China, the endemic Apis cerana cerana exhibits stronger cold hardiness than Western honey bees, making the former species important pollinators of winter-flowering plants. Although studies have examined behavioral and physiological mechanisms underlying cold resistance in bees, data are scarce regarding the exact molecular mechanisms.

Antennal Transcriptome and Differential Expression Analysis of Five Chemosensory Gene Families from the Asian Honeybee Apis cerana cerana.

Chemosensory genes play a central role in sensing chemical signals and guiding insect behavior. The Chinese honeybee, Apis cerana cerana, is one of the most important insect species in China in terms of resource production, and providing high-quality products for human consumption, and also serves as an important pollinator. Communication and foraging behavior of worker bees is likely linked to a complex chemosensory system.

Molecular characterization and differential expression of two duplicated dorant receptor genes, AcerOr1 and AcerOr3, in Apis cerana cerana.

Insects use olfaction to recognize a wide range of volatile cues, to locate food sources, mates, hosts and oviposition sites. These chemical volatiles are perceived by odorant receptors (ORs) expressed on the dendritic membrane of olfactory neurons, most of which are housed within the chemosensilla of antennae. Most insect ORs are tandemly arrayed on chromosomes and some of them are formed by gene duplication.

Molecular identification and expressive characterization of an olfactory co-receptor gene in the Asian honeybee, Apis cerana cerana.

Olfaction recognition process is extraordinarily complex in insects, and the olfactory receptors play an important function in the process. In this paper, a highly conserved olfactory co-receptor gene, AcerOr2 (ortholog to the Drosophila melanogaster Or83b), cloned from the antennae of the Asian honeybee, Apis cerana cerana Fabricius (Hymenoptera: Apidae), using reverse transcriptase PCR and rapid amplification of cDNA ends. The full-length sequence of the gene was 1763 bp long, and the cDNA open reading frame encoded 478 amino acid residues, including 7 putative transmembrane domains.

Molecular cloning and characterization of pigeon (Columba liva) ubiquitin and ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme genes from pituitary gland library.

In the study of the regulation of incubation, broodiness and laying performance in pigeons (Columba liva), a cDNA library, which was enriched with full-length brooding-related genes, was constructed by SMART LD-PCR techniques using the pituitary glands of incubating White King pigeons. The titers of optimal primary libraries were 1.54x10(6) pfu/mL and 1.