Tropilaelaps mercedesae parasitism changes behavior and gene expression in honey bee workers.

Tropilaelaps mercedesae is one of the most problematic honey bee parasites and has become more threatening to the beekeeping industry. Tropilaelaps can easily parasitize immature honey bees (larvae and pupae) and have both lethal and sublethal effects on the individual worker bees. Our study for the...

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Main Authors: Jing Gao, Shilong Ma, Xinling Wang, Yang Yang, Qihua Luo, Xing Wang, Feng Liu, Qiang Wang, Zhongmin Fu, Qingyun Diao, Pingli Dai
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2021-07-01
Series:PLoS Pathogens
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1009684&type=printable
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author Jing Gao
Shilong Ma
Xinling Wang
Yang Yang
Qihua Luo
Xing Wang
Feng Liu
Qiang Wang
Zhongmin Fu
Qingyun Diao
Pingli Dai
author_facet Jing Gao
Shilong Ma
Xinling Wang
Yang Yang
Qihua Luo
Xing Wang
Feng Liu
Qiang Wang
Zhongmin Fu
Qingyun Diao
Pingli Dai
author_sort Jing Gao
collection DOAJ
description Tropilaelaps mercedesae is one of the most problematic honey bee parasites and has become more threatening to the beekeeping industry. Tropilaelaps can easily parasitize immature honey bees (larvae and pupae) and have both lethal and sublethal effects on the individual worker bees. Our study for the first time experimentally assessed the effects of T. mercedesae on olfactory learning, flight ability, homing ability as well as transcriptional changes in parasitized adult honey bees. T. mercedesae infestation had negative impacts on olfactory associated function, flight ability, and homing rate. The volume of the mushroom body significantly increased in infested honey bees, which may be correlated to the lower sucrose responsiveness as well as lower learning ability in the infested bees. The gene expression involved in immune systems and carbohydrate transport and metabolism were significantly different between infested bees and non-infested bees. Moreover, genes function in cell adhesion play an essential role in olfactory sensory in honey bees. Our findings provide a comprehensive understanding of European honey bees in response to T. mercedesae infestation, and could be used to further investigate the complex molecular mechanisms in honey bees under parasitic stress.
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institution OA Journals
issn 1553-7366
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language English
publishDate 2021-07-01
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
record_format Article
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spelling doaj-art-b1e3d52b3e024b0dacef7b9e3d9c325d2025-08-20T02:01:05ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Pathogens1553-73661553-73742021-07-01177e100968410.1371/journal.ppat.1009684Tropilaelaps mercedesae parasitism changes behavior and gene expression in honey bee workers.Jing GaoShilong MaXinling WangYang YangQihua LuoXing WangFeng LiuQiang WangZhongmin FuQingyun DiaoPingli DaiTropilaelaps mercedesae is one of the most problematic honey bee parasites and has become more threatening to the beekeeping industry. Tropilaelaps can easily parasitize immature honey bees (larvae and pupae) and have both lethal and sublethal effects on the individual worker bees. Our study for the first time experimentally assessed the effects of T. mercedesae on olfactory learning, flight ability, homing ability as well as transcriptional changes in parasitized adult honey bees. T. mercedesae infestation had negative impacts on olfactory associated function, flight ability, and homing rate. The volume of the mushroom body significantly increased in infested honey bees, which may be correlated to the lower sucrose responsiveness as well as lower learning ability in the infested bees. The gene expression involved in immune systems and carbohydrate transport and metabolism were significantly different between infested bees and non-infested bees. Moreover, genes function in cell adhesion play an essential role in olfactory sensory in honey bees. Our findings provide a comprehensive understanding of European honey bees in response to T. mercedesae infestation, and could be used to further investigate the complex molecular mechanisms in honey bees under parasitic stress.https://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1009684&type=printable
spellingShingle Jing Gao
Shilong Ma
Xinling Wang
Yang Yang
Qihua Luo
Xing Wang
Feng Liu
Qiang Wang
Zhongmin Fu
Qingyun Diao
Pingli Dai
Tropilaelaps mercedesae parasitism changes behavior and gene expression in honey bee workers.
PLoS Pathogens
title Tropilaelaps mercedesae parasitism changes behavior and gene expression in honey bee workers.
title_full Tropilaelaps mercedesae parasitism changes behavior and gene expression in honey bee workers.
title_fullStr Tropilaelaps mercedesae parasitism changes behavior and gene expression in honey bee workers.
title_full_unstemmed Tropilaelaps mercedesae parasitism changes behavior and gene expression in honey bee workers.
title_short Tropilaelaps mercedesae parasitism changes behavior and gene expression in honey bee workers.
title_sort tropilaelaps mercedesae parasitism changes behavior and gene expression in honey bee workers
url https://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1009684&type=printable
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