Metabolomics-Guided Comparison of Pollen and Microalgae-Based Artificial Diets in Honey Bees

Ricigliano, Vincent A.; Cank, Kristóf B.; Todd, Daniel A.; Knowles, Sonja L.; Oberlies, Nicholas H.

doi:10.1021/acs.jafc.2c02583

Cited by 16 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 64 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…For instance, both spirulina and Chlorella alga diets increased mRNA and protein levels of vitellogenin (Vg), a nutritional storage protein that is used as a biomarker of nutritional status and diet quality. ,, In this study, we did not observe a feeding treatment effect on vg levels. Instead, we found that vg expression was primarily driven by apiary site, which agrees with similar analyses of pooled, field-collected bee samples. ,, Previous studies indicate that mRNA and protein levels of heat shock protein 90 ( hsp 90 ) were upregulated in caged bees fed spirulina, suggesting improved stress resistance potential . Like vg expression, hsp90 levels were more strongly impacted by apiary site.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Efficacy of a Microalgal Feed Additive in Commercial Honey Bee Colonies Used for Crop Pollination

McMenamin,

Weiss,

Meikle

et al. 2023

ACS Agric. Sci. Technol.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Honey bees are experiencing nutritional deficiencies related to intensive agriculture and climate change, posing major threats to the ecosystem services they provide. Colonies managed for crop pollination are fed artificial diets to offset reduced pollen in the environment and to stimulate population growth. Here, we evaluated the effects of a spirulina microalga feed additive on commercial honey bee colonies in an agriculturally intensive desert environment. One hundred honey bee colonies were used in a randomized block design that was replicated at two apiary sites over 4 months leading up to spring almond pollination. Colonies were fed a pollen-free artificial diet or the same diet containing 25% spirulina. Unfed colonies were randomly assigned within treatment blocks as controls. We measured colony population size, brood production, thermoregulation, and a panel of molecular biomarkers associated with nutritional status, stress responses, and gut microbiota. Hive brood imaging and continuous temperature data enabled sensitive detection of diet treatment effects. Spirulina feed significantly improved brood production and thermoregulation prior to almond pollination relative to unfed controls. Bees fed spirulina had distinct expression profiles of nutrition and stress response genes, but gene expression was primarily driven by the apiary site. We conclude that spirulina is a sustainable feed additive with potential to improve crop pollination efficiency by supporting larger, healthier honey bee colonies.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Efficacy of a Microalgal Feed Additive in Commercial Honey Bee Colonies Used for Crop Pollination

McMenamin,

Weiss,

Meikle

et al. 2023

ACS Agric. Sci. Technol.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Furthermore, bees supplemented with spirulina had a significant increase in mRNA expression levels of the nutritional storage lipoprotein Vitellogenin (Ricigliano et al, 2021). In another study, bees fed sugar pastes of Chlorella vulgaris or spirulina exhibited similar growth characteristics as bees fed natural pollen (Ricigliano et al, 2022a). Bees fed algae expressed higher mRNA levels of Vitellogenin compared to sugar-fed controls, whereas Chlorella fed-bees featured Vitellogenin mRNA levels trending higher, but not statistically different than pollen-fed bees.…”

Section: Impacts Of Algae Supplementation On Honey Bee Physiologymentioning

confidence: 92%

“…Bees fed algae expressed higher mRNA levels of Vitellogenin compared to sugar-fed controls, whereas Chlorella fed-bees featured Vitellogenin mRNA levels trending higher, but not statistically different than pollen-fed bees. Furthermore, bees fed both algae types featured higher levels of antioxidant gene transcripts and spirulina-fed bees expressed higher transcript levels of shock protein 90 (Ricigliano et al, 2022a). Increased body and tissue masses and nutrient levels were observed in bees fed Chlorella sorokiniana relative to bees from control hives fed sugar.…”

Section: Impacts Of Algae Supplementation On Honey Bee Physiologymentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Artificial diets incorporate protein-rich ingredients such as soy, yeast, pea, milk proteins, or eggs (Paray et al, 2021). Some diets may also include a fraction of bee-collected pollen, which can increase consumption and brood rearing (Ricigliano et al, 2022a). Generally, bees have a strong preference for natural pollen from diverse sources and will consume pollen before consuming artificial diets (Herbert et al, 1980;Requier et al, 2015;Wright et al, 2018).…”

Section: Current Artificial Diets For Honey Beesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Uses and benefits of algae as a nutritional supplement for honey bees

Nichols

Ricigliano

2022

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Honey bees are essential agricultural pollinators that are threatened by various interacting stressors, posing risks to beekeeping industries and human food security. Malnutrition is a major factor underlying managed bee colony losses that can be countered by feeding artificial diets, which aim to deliver essential macro- and micronutrients. Current bee nutritional supplements show room for improvement and require resources that compete with human food production. Algae and microalgae in particular have been gaining traction in the literature as alternative feed sources and nutritional supplements for livestock, including honey bees. Herein, we review the current literature and categorize the effects of algae supplementation on honey bee colony productivity as well as effects on individual bee physiology and health. In general, we conclude that algae biomass appears to be suitable for use as a bee feed additive and as a source of health-stimulating natural products. Additionally, we suggest research areas that could improve the development of sustainable algae-based nutrition supplements for honey bees.

show abstract

“…LC-MS is better for detecting lipids, while GC-MS is better for identifying low-molecular-weight compounds. LC-MS and GC-MS metabolome analyses have been used to identify changes caused by diet in bee metabolite profiles [ 19 ]. Therefore, metabolomics technology based on these two platforms might provide valuable insights into the impact of domestication and boiling on egg yolk composition.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integration of LC-MS-Based and GC-MS-Based Metabolic Profiling to Reveal the Effects of Domestication and Boiling on the Composition of Duck Egg Yolks

Tian

et al. 2023

Metabolites

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Egg yolks contain abundant lipids, proteins, and minerals that provide not only essential nutrients for embryonic development but also cheap sources of nutrients for consumers worldwide. Previous composition analyses of egg yolks primarily focused on nutrients such as lipids and minerals. However, few studies have reported the effects of domestication and heating on yolk composition and characteristics. The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of domestication and boiling on the metabolite contents of egg yolks via untargeted metabolomics using GC-MS and LC-MS. In this study, eggs were collected from Fenghua teals, captive mallards, and Shaoxing ducks. Twelve duck eggs (half raw and half cooked) were randomly selected from each variety, and the egg yolks were separated for metabolic profiling. The analysis identified 1205 compounds in the egg yolks. Domestication generated more differential metabolites than boiling, which indicated that the changes in the metabolome of duck egg yolk caused by domestication were greater than those caused by boiling. In a comparative analysis of domestic and mallard ducks, 48 overlapping differential metabolites were discovered. Among them, nine metabolites were upregulated in domesticated ducks, including monoolein, emodin, daidzein, genistein, and glycitein, which may be involved in lipid metabolism; some of them may also act as phytoestrogens (flavonoids). Another 39 metabolites, including imethylethanolamine, harmalan, mannitol, nornicotine, linoleic acid, diphenylamine, proline betaine, alloxanthin, and resolvin d1, were downregulated by domestication and were linked to immunity, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and antioxidant properties. Furthermore, four overlapping differential metabolites that included amino acids and dipeptides were discovered in paired comparisons of the raw and boiled samples. Our findings provided new insights into the molecular response of duck domestication and supported the use of metabolomics to examine the impact of boiling on the composition of egg yolks.

show abstract

Metabolomics-Guided Comparison of Pollen and Microalgae-Based Artificial Diets in Honey Bees

Cited by 16 publications

References 64 publications

Efficacy of a Microalgal Feed Additive in Commercial Honey Bee Colonies Used for Crop Pollination

Efficacy of a Microalgal Feed Additive in Commercial Honey Bee Colonies Used for Crop Pollination

Uses and benefits of algae as a nutritional supplement for honey bees

Integration of LC-MS-Based and GC-MS-Based Metabolic Profiling to Reveal the Effects of Domestication and Boiling on the Composition of Duck Egg Yolks

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About