An immune response in the bumblebee, Bombus terrestris leads to increased food consumption

Tyler, Elizabeth R.; Adams, Sally; Mallon, Eamonn B.

doi:10.1186/1472-6793-6-6

Cited by 43 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 23 publications

(26 reference statements)

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“…First, in accordance with the bibliography for vertebrates, it was found that LPS produces anorexia in the locust (Goldsworthy, 2010 ). Second, the opposite effect has been reported in bumblebees, as they increase their food intake (Tyler et al, 2006 ). Finally, in honey bees, sucrose intake was measured for an extended period of a week after LPS injection and no change was found (Köhler et al, 2012 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Sickness Behavior in Honey Bees

et al. 2016

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During an infection, animals suffer several changes in their normal physiology and behavior which may include lethargy, appetite loss, and reduction in grooming and general movements. This set of alterations is known as sickness behavior and although it has been extensively believed to be orchestrated primarily by the immune system, a relevant role for the central nervous system has also been established. The aim of the present work is to develop a simple animal model to allow studying how the immune and the nervous systems interact coordinately during an infection. We administered a bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) into the thorax of honey bees to mimic a bacterial infection, and then we evaluated a set of stereotyped behaviors of the animals that might be indicative of sickness behavior. First, we show that this immune challenge reduces the locomotor activity of the animals in a narrow time window after LPS injection. Furthermore, bees exhibit a loss of appetite 60 and 90 min after injection, but not 15 h later. We also demonstrate that LPS injection reduces spontaneous antennal movements in harnessed animals, which suggests a reduction in the motivational state of the bees. Finally, we show that the LPS injection diminishes the interaction between animals, a crucial behavior in social insects. To our knowledge these results represent the first systematic description of sickness behavior in honey bees and provide important groundwork for the study of the interaction between the immune and the neural systems in an insect model.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Sickness Behavior in Honey Bees

et al. 2016

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“…Neonicotinoids are, like anabasine and nicotine, acetylcholine receptor agonists, so it is logical that each of these compounds would have similar effects on bees. Chemical exposure may directly suppress immunity [ 94 , 96 ], and the combined stresses of chemical exposure and infection may result in trade-offs between immunity and detoxification, both of which are energetically expensive [ 38 , 97 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Context-dependent medicinal effects of anabasine and infection-dependent toxicity in bumble bees

et al. 2017

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BackgroundFloral phytochemicals are ubiquitous in nature, and can function both as antimicrobials and as insecticides. Although many phytochemicals act as toxins and deterrents to consumers, the same chemicals may counteract disease and be preferred by infected individuals. The roles of nectar and pollen phytochemicals in pollinator ecology and conservation are complex, with evidence for both toxicity and medicinal effects against parasites. However, it remains unclear how consistent the effects of phytochemicals are across different parasite lineages and environmental conditions, and whether pollinators actively self-medicate with these compounds when infected.ApproachHere, we test effects of the nectar alkaloid anabasine, found in Nicotiana, on infection intensity, dietary preference, and survival and performance of bumble bees (Bombus impatiens). We examined variation in the effects of anabasine on infection with different lineages of the intestinal parasite Crithidia under pollen-fed and pollen-starved conditions.ResultsWe found that anabasine did not reduce infection intensity in individual bees infected with any of four Crithidia lineages that were tested in parallel, nor did anabasine reduce infection intensity in microcolonies of queenless workers. In addition, neither anabasine nor its isomer, nicotine, was preferred by infected bees in choice experiments, and infected bees consumed less anabasine than did uninfected bees under no-choice conditions. Furthermore, anabasine exacerbated the negative effects of infection on bee survival and microcolony performance. Anabasine reduced infection in only one experiment, in which bees were deprived of pollen and post-pupal contact with nestmates. In this experiment, anabasine had antiparasitic effects in bees from only two of four colonies, and infected bees exhibited reduced—rather than increased—phytochemical consumption relative to uninfected bees.ConclusionsVariation in the effect of anabasine on infection suggests potential modulation of tritrophic interactions by both host genotype and environmental variables. Overall, our results demonstrate that Bombus impatiens prefer diets without nicotine and anabasine, and suggest that the medicinal effects and toxicity of anabasine may be context dependent. Future research should identify the specific environmental and genotypic factors that determine whether nectar phytochemicals have medicinal or deleterious effects on pollinators.

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“…B 282: 20151371 the natural environment is widespread. It may also be expected that infected bees could have increased flower handling times and foraging demands owing to the cognitive and energetic costs of infection which would drive parasite dispersal rate even higher [49][50][51][52][53]. The propensity of a parasite to transfer between pollinator and flower is remarkably high, with clear vectoring between foraging sites taking place very rapidly.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parasites in bloom: flowers aid dispersal and transmission of pollinator parasites within and between bee species

2015

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The dispersal of parasites is critical for epidemiology, and the interspecific vectoring of parasites when species share resources may play an underappreciated role in parasite dispersal. One of the best examples of such a situation is the shared use of flowers by pollinators, but the importance of flowers and interspecific vectoring in the dispersal of pollinator parasites is poorly understood and frequently overlooked. Here, we use an experimental approach to show that during even short foraging periods of 3 h, three bumblebee parasites and two honeybee parasites were dispersed effectively onto flowers by their hosts, and then vectored readily between flowers by non-host pollinator species. The results suggest that flowers are likely to be hotspots for the transmission of pollinator parasites and that considering potential vector, as well as host, species will be of general importance for understanding the distribution and transmission of parasites in the environment and between pollinators.

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An immune response in the bumblebee, Bombus terrestris leads to increased food consumption

Cited by 43 publications

References 23 publications

Sickness Behavior in Honey Bees

Sickness Behavior in Honey Bees

Context-dependent medicinal effects of anabasine and infection-dependent toxicity in bumble bees

Parasites in bloom: flowers aid dispersal and transmission of pollinator parasites within and between bee species

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