Urbanization Shifts Immunometabolism in a Common Bumblebee
ABSTRACT The growing urbanization process is accompanied by the emergence of new habitats for wildlife, and cities are sometimes seen as refuges for pollinators such as wild bees compared to intensively cultivated rural habitats. However, the contrasting living conditions that combine high fragmenta...
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| Format: | Article |
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Wiley
2024-12-01
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| Series: | Ecology and Evolution |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70743 |
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| author | Virginie Cuvillier‐Hot Alessandro Fisogni Vincent Doublet Sylvain Guillot Anne‐Catherine Holl Julie Leclercq‐Dransart Florent Occelli Yves Piquot Nina Hautekèete |
| author_facet | Virginie Cuvillier‐Hot Alessandro Fisogni Vincent Doublet Sylvain Guillot Anne‐Catherine Holl Julie Leclercq‐Dransart Florent Occelli Yves Piquot Nina Hautekèete |
| author_sort | Virginie Cuvillier‐Hot |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ABSTRACT The growing urbanization process is accompanied by the emergence of new habitats for wildlife, and cities are sometimes seen as refuges for pollinators such as wild bees compared to intensively cultivated rural habitats. However, the contrasting living conditions that combine high fragmentation, exposure to pollutants, and heat island effects, with low pesticide use and potentially high availability of resources, make it difficult to predict the overall effect of urban living on the health of wild bees. Moreover, if the responses of wild bee populations in terms of species richness and diversity have been the focus of many recent studies, individual responses to urbanization have been more rarely investigated. More specifically, data on the impacts on individual bee physiology and health are lacking. To help fill this gap, we collected red‐tailed bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius) workers along a gradient of urbanization defined by the level of soil imperviousness, and estimated environmental (air quality) and ecological (pathogens' prevalence and loads; local competition) pressures they locally experienced. In parallel, we quantified the expression of selected immune marker genes. We measured how the immune system of bumblebees responds to urbanization gradient and which local parameters best explain the observed changes in immune gene expression. We evidenced three immune markers, tightly linked with cellular metabolism, whose expressions increase with the level of urbanization, independently of individual infection and pollution exposure. We suggest that induction of their expression reveals a shift in wild bee immunometabolism, supposedly in response to the stressful conditions experienced in areas with high built‐up cover. The induction of these genes is likely at the root of any immune activation; they could thus be used as markers to estimate the levels of urban stress locally experienced by pollinators. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a2d70383307b413cabf0622ca0665c32 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2045-7758 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecology and Evolution |
| spelling | doaj-art-a2d70383307b413cabf0622ca0665c322025-08-20T02:56:02ZengWileyEcology and Evolution2045-77582024-12-011412n/an/a10.1002/ece3.70743Urbanization Shifts Immunometabolism in a Common BumblebeeVirginie Cuvillier‐Hot0Alessandro Fisogni1Vincent Doublet2Sylvain Guillot3Anne‐Catherine Holl4Julie Leclercq‐Dransart5Florent Occelli6Yves Piquot7Nina Hautekèete8Univ Lille, CNRS, UMR 8198—Evo‐Eco‐Paleo Lille FranceLaboratory of Zoology Research Institute for Biosciences, University of Mons Mons BelgiumInstitute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm Ulm GermanyUniv Lille, CNRS, UMR 8198—Evo‐Eco‐Paleo Lille FranceUniv Lille, CNRS, UMR 8198—Evo‐Eco‐Paleo Lille FranceLGCgE, Laboratoire de Génie Civil et géo‐Environnement Univ. Lille, Univ. Artois, IMT Lille Douai, JUNIA, ULR 4515 Lille FranceLGCgE, Laboratoire de Génie Civil et géo‐Environnement Univ. Lille, Univ. Artois, IMT Lille Douai, JUNIA, ULR 4515 Lille FranceUniv Lille, CNRS, UMR 8198—Evo‐Eco‐Paleo Lille FranceUniv Lille, CNRS, UMR 8198—Evo‐Eco‐Paleo Lille FranceABSTRACT The growing urbanization process is accompanied by the emergence of new habitats for wildlife, and cities are sometimes seen as refuges for pollinators such as wild bees compared to intensively cultivated rural habitats. However, the contrasting living conditions that combine high fragmentation, exposure to pollutants, and heat island effects, with low pesticide use and potentially high availability of resources, make it difficult to predict the overall effect of urban living on the health of wild bees. Moreover, if the responses of wild bee populations in terms of species richness and diversity have been the focus of many recent studies, individual responses to urbanization have been more rarely investigated. More specifically, data on the impacts on individual bee physiology and health are lacking. To help fill this gap, we collected red‐tailed bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius) workers along a gradient of urbanization defined by the level of soil imperviousness, and estimated environmental (air quality) and ecological (pathogens' prevalence and loads; local competition) pressures they locally experienced. In parallel, we quantified the expression of selected immune marker genes. We measured how the immune system of bumblebees responds to urbanization gradient and which local parameters best explain the observed changes in immune gene expression. We evidenced three immune markers, tightly linked with cellular metabolism, whose expressions increase with the level of urbanization, independently of individual infection and pollution exposure. We suggest that induction of their expression reveals a shift in wild bee immunometabolism, supposedly in response to the stressful conditions experienced in areas with high built‐up cover. The induction of these genes is likely at the root of any immune activation; they could thus be used as markers to estimate the levels of urban stress locally experienced by pollinators.https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70743Bombus lapidariuseco‐immunologygradient of urbanizationimmune markerurban stresswild bees |
| spellingShingle | Virginie Cuvillier‐Hot Alessandro Fisogni Vincent Doublet Sylvain Guillot Anne‐Catherine Holl Julie Leclercq‐Dransart Florent Occelli Yves Piquot Nina Hautekèete Urbanization Shifts Immunometabolism in a Common Bumblebee Ecology and Evolution Bombus lapidarius eco‐immunology gradient of urbanization immune marker urban stress wild bees |
| title | Urbanization Shifts Immunometabolism in a Common Bumblebee |
| title_full | Urbanization Shifts Immunometabolism in a Common Bumblebee |
| title_fullStr | Urbanization Shifts Immunometabolism in a Common Bumblebee |
| title_full_unstemmed | Urbanization Shifts Immunometabolism in a Common Bumblebee |
| title_short | Urbanization Shifts Immunometabolism in a Common Bumblebee |
| title_sort | urbanization shifts immunometabolism in a common bumblebee |
| topic | Bombus lapidarius eco‐immunology gradient of urbanization immune marker urban stress wild bees |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70743 |
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