Global warming promotes biological invasion of a honey bee pest

Climate change and biological invasions are two major global environmental challenges. Both may interact, e.g. via altered impact and distribution of invasive alien species. Even though invasive species play a key role for compromising the health of honey bees, the impact of climate change on the severity of such species is still unknown. The small hive beetle (SHB, Aethina tumida, Murray) is a parasite of honey bee colonies. It is endemic to sub‐Saharan Africa and has established populations on all continents except Antarctica. Since SHBs pupate in soil, pupation performance is governed foremost by two abiotic factors, soil temperature and moisture, which will be affected by climate change. Here, we investigated SHB invasion risk globally under current and future climate scenarios. We modelled survival and development time during pupation (=pupal performance) in response to soil temperature and soil moisture using published and novel experimental data. Presence data on SHB distribution were used for model validation. We then linked the model with global soil data in order to classify areas (resolution: 10 arcmin; i.e. 18.6 km at the equator) as unsuitable, marginal and suitable for SHB pupation performance. Under the current climate, the results show that many areas globally yet uninvaded are actually suitable, suggesting considerable SHB invasion risk. Future scenarios of global warming project a vehement increase in climatic suitability for SHB and corresponding potential for invasion, especially in the temperate regions of the Northern hemisphere, thereby creating demand for enhanced and adapted mitigation and management. Our analysis shows, for the first time, effects of global warming on a honey bee pest and will help areas at risk to prepare adequately. In conclusion, this is a clear case for global warming promoting biological invasion of a pest species with severe potential to harm important pollinator species globally.     

Nest-mate recognition template of guard honeybees (Apis mellifera) is modified by wax comb transfer

In recognition, discriminators use sensory information to make decisions. For example, honeybee (Apis mellifera) entrance guards discriminate between nest-mates and intruders by comparing their odours with a template of the colony odour. Comb wax plays a major role in honeybee recognition. We measured the rejection rates of nest-mate and non-nest-mate worker bees by entrance guards before and after a unidirectional transfer of wax comb from a 'comb donor' hive to a 'comb receiver' hive. Our results showed a significant effect that occurred in one direction. Guards in the comb receiver hive became more accepting of non-nest-mates from the comb donor hive (rejection decreased from 70 to 47%); however, guards in the comb donor hive did not become more accepting of bees from the comb receiver hive. These data strongly support the hypothesis that the transfer of wax comb increases the acceptance of non-nest-mates not by changing the odour of the bees, but by changing the template used by guards.     

西方蜜蜂发育基因AmWnt1的克隆鉴定及时空表达分析

本研究旨在克隆鉴定西方蜜蜂Apis mellifera发育相关基因AmWnt1,分析其在不同发育时期和刚出房工蜂不同组织的表达特征,为进一步研究Wnt1基因功能提供理论参考。根据NCBI中AmWnt1基因序列信息,利用Primer 6.0设计引物,RT-PCR扩增AmWnt1基因完整的CDS序列,进行生物信息学预测,用推导的氨基酸序列构建系统进化树;利用荧光定量PCR检测该基因在卵（1日龄、2日龄和3日龄）、幼虫（1日龄、3日龄和5日龄）、预蛹（1日龄和3日龄）、蛹（0日龄、2日龄、4日龄、6日龄和8日龄）、刚出房工蜂、哺育蜂和采集蜂以及刚出房工蜂8个组织中相对表达量。克隆获得西方蜜蜂的Wnt1基因CDS序列,命名为AmWnt1,上传NCBI,获得GenBank登录号MT993937。全长1 239 bp,编码412个氨基酸,预测等电点为9.48,相对分子质量为46.40313 kDa。序列比对和系统进化树结果表明：AmWnt1蛋白与其它膜翅目昆虫聚为一类,其中和东方蜜蜂Apis cerana亲缘关系最近,序列相似度为99.50%。时空表达谱结果表明：AmWnt1基因在各个时期中均有表达,且在胚胎后期表达量最高,预蛹期和蛹前期表达量相对较高,其它时期表达量相对较低;AmWnt1基因在刚出房工蜂头、胸、触角表达量高于其它组织。AmWnt1可能参与西方蜜蜂胚胎晚期的神经系统发育和化蛹过程中的四肢发育等关键历程,为进一步研究AmWnt1功能提供了理论参考。     

贵州省东方蜜蜂Apis cerana线粒体DNA遗传多样性研究

为探明贵州省东方蜜蜂Apis cerana遗传多样性及遗传分化现状,对贵州省9个地级市79个样点采集的东方蜜蜂样本线粒体DNA (mt DNA) COI-COII序列进行扩增与测序,分析其遗传多样性、遗传结构及亲缘关系。序列结果显示扩增后COI-COII序列长度约为760 bp,A+T平均含量（82.3%）明显高于C+G（17.7%）,碱基偏移性明显。单倍型分析共发现33个单倍型,其中主体单倍型H1为9个地理群体共有。单倍型多样度分析表明平均单倍型多样度为0.802,其中黔南地区最高,遵义地区最低;平均核苷酸多样度为0.014,其中六盘水地区最高,黔西南及安顺地区最低。中性检验结果表明贵州省部分地区东方蜜蜂可能经历过群体扩张。9个地区样点的平均遗传距离介于0.0012~0.0044之间,其中毕节与黔东南地区间最大,为0.0044,安顺与黔南、遵义地区间最小,均为0.0012。在单倍型系统进化树中,79个样点东方蜜蜂可分为两个类群。研究结果为贵州省东方蜜蜂遗传分化研究、种质资源保护与开发利用提供参考依据。     

Successful cryopreservation of honey bee drone spermatozoa with royal jelly supplemented extenders

The aim of the present study was to evaluate different concentrations of royal jelly (RJ) supplemented extenders for post-thawing quality of drone sperm. Semen samples were collected from sexually mature drones. Pooled semen was diluted with extender without RJ (control) or supplemented with different concentrations of RJ (1, 2, 4 or 8%). Sperm motility, plasma membrane functional integrity, and acrosomal integrity were evaluated. At post thaw, the highest sperm motility and acrosomal integrity rates were obtained in the RJ1 group. Functional integrity of sperm membrane was better preserved in the RJ1 and RJ2 groups compare to the other groups. The study shows that RJ supplemented extenders have beneficial effects on drone semen parameters. The results of the present study demonstrated advantage of using 1% RJ supplemented extender.     

囊状幼虫病病毒侵染对中华蜜蜂营养和免疫反应的影响

【目的】囊状幼虫病病毒(sacbrood virus, SBV)是严重危害中华蜜蜂Apis cerana cerana蜂群健康和种群数量的病原微生物,但其对蜜蜂的致死机制不明。本研究旨在探究SBV对不同发育阶段中华蜜蜂营养代谢和免疫的影响。【方法】分别给中华蜜蜂2日龄幼虫和新羽化成虫饲喂SBV,逐日统计死亡蜜蜂数量,检测病毒对蜜蜂存活的影响;利用qPCR检测中华蜜蜂4日龄幼虫、预蛹以及10和20日龄成虫体内SBV RNA、营养代谢基因(ilp1, ilp2, hex110, hex70b, hex70c和vg)、先天性病毒免疫基因(rel, toll, apidaecin, abaecin, defensin, hymenoptaecin, jra, key和state92e)、细胞凋亡基因(atg7和LOC100577876)和抗RNA病毒基因(dis3和dicer)的表达水平。【结果】 SBV感染显著降低了中华蜜蜂幼虫的存活率,但对成虫的生存影响不明显。SBV RNA在中华蜜蜂4日龄幼虫和预蛹体内的表达量显著高于其在10和20日龄成虫体内的表达量。SBV显著降低了中华蜜蜂幼虫营养代谢基因ilp1, ilp2, hex110, hex70b和hex70c以及成虫营养代谢基因vg和hex110的表达量,但显著提高了4日龄幼虫rel, toll, apidaecin, abaecin, defensin, hymenoptaecin和jra以及成虫key和 state92e等先天性病毒免疫基因的表达量,还引起预蛹体内的细胞凋亡基因atg7和LOC100577876的表达量显著增加。【结论】SBV在中华蜜蜂幼虫和预蛹体内的感染水平远高于在成虫体内的,其对幼虫的危害也大于对成虫。SBV显著影响了中华蜜蜂正常的营养代谢,染毒中华蜜蜂能够提高自身的免疫水平来应对;预蛹期中华蜜蜂幼虫细胞凋亡水平的显著增加可能与化蛹异常及死亡有关。     

A comparison of the dance language in<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Apis mellifera carnica</Emphasis> and<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Apis florea</Emphasis> reveals striking similarities

Honeybees have a dance language by which successful foragers inform nestmates about attractive food patches. The classical concept of dialects in the dance language of honeybees points to two differences in the dances by different species and races, firstly in the flight distance at which the dancers start performing waggle dances instead of round dances, and secondly in the circuit duration of the waggle dance performed for a given flight distance. However, recent findings have indicated that the dance language is influenced and affected by a number of parameters, both genetic and environmental. The current study was carried out to see whether the distance at which dancers change from round dances to waggle dances is statistically different in two different species, Apis mellifera carnica and A. florea and to develop a set of definitions for such comparative studies. Results show that the two species do not differ in the relative proportion of waggle dances and round dances performed at a given distance. Thus, this study points to the need of addressing the dialect question again.     

The influence of hybridization between African and European honeybees, Apis mellifera, on asymmetries in wing size and shape

Abstract We examined the possible role of hybridization in the invasion process of the African honeybee by testing two hypotheses regarding fluctuating asymmetry (FA), a measure of developmental stability, in wing characteristics: (1) FA should be higher in hybrid versus parental genotypes of African and European races; (2) FA should be lower in African bees compared to hybrid and European workers. Parental and reciprocal hybrid worker genotypes were cross fostered in common-hive rearing environments. We did not find greater FA for wing size and shape in the hybrids compared to both parental types. However, we did find significantly lower FA of shape in the African workers compared to the European and hybrid workers, suggesting that European bees and their hybrids may have compromised fitness relative to African bees. We also found that the two hybrid genotypes significantly differed in overall wing size and shape. If these differences affect wing aerodynamics, then the paternity of hybrids may influence worker performance and could potentially contribute to the loss of European matrilines. Hybridization had few consistent effects on directional asymmetry for wing size and shape. Genotypic factors played a far greater role in determining the effect of hybridization on wing morphology than did differences in rearing environment. Thus, African bees may have lower FA for wing shape (and by inference greater developmental stability) relative to European and hybrid workers, which may contribute to the ability of African bees to displace European honeybee races in invaded regions.     

A technical note for using microsatellite DNA analyses in haploid male DNA pools of social Hymenoptera

Summary The analyses of haploid male DNA pooled (MDP) samples can increase the cost efficiency in population genetic studies for a variety of applications in fundamental and applied screening of social Hymenoptera populations. Depending on the research problem addressed it can reduce the number of genotyped samples per study by orders of magnitude. In this study we show the feasibility of MDPs for assessing population allele frequencies, mother queen genotypes and mutation rates for microsatellite loci in the honeybee (Apis mellifera). The main purpose of MDP genotyping is not to replace individual based analyses but to discard non-informative samples and monomorphic loci from further analyses.