Brain metabolomic profiling of eastern honey bee (Apis cerana) infested with the mite Varroa destructor

Abstract

The mite Varroa destructor is currently the greatest threat to apiculture as it is causing a global decrease in honey bee colonies. However, it rarely causes serious damage to its native hosts, the eastern honey bees Apis cerana. To better understand the mechanism of resistance of A. cerana against the V. destructor mite, we profiled the metabolic changes that occur in the honey bee brain during V. destructor infestation. Brain samples were collected from infested and control honey bees and then measured using an untargeted liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS)-based global metabolomics method, in which 7918 and 7462 ions in ESI+ and ESI- mode, respectively, were successfully identified. Multivariate statistical analyses were applied, and 64 dysregulated metabolites, including fatty acids, amino acids, carboxylic acid, and phospholipids, amongst others, were identified. Pathway analysis further revealed that linoleic acid metabolism; propanoate metabolism; and glycine, serine, and threonine metabolism were acutely perturbed. The data obtained in this study offer insight into the defense mechanisms of A. cerana against V. destructor mites and provide a better method for understanding the synergistic effects of parasitism on honey bee colonies.

Integrated LC–MS and GC–MS-based untargeted metabolomics studies of the effect of azadirachtin on Bactrocera dorsalis larvae

“…The parameters for LC-MS analysis were set with reference to literature, with some modifications 41 . The samples were subjected to a 2777 C UPLC (Waters, UK) coupled with an Xevo G2 XS QTOF high-resolution tandem mass spectrometer (Waters, UK).…”

Methodology for Single Bee and Bee Brain 1H-NMR Metabolomics

“…The study of aqueous metabolites of insects, which may involve whole insects or specific fluids, has been developing through the use of both mass spectrometry and NMR-based methods [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. Studies may include a focus on specific organs such as the brain [4,5,10,15], which is particularly of interest because metabolic dysregulation has been attributed to this organ, particularly owing to neonicotinoids and pesticides [16,17].…”

“…Sensitivity considerations have emphasized the need for either mass spectrometry approaches [4,5] or specialized hardware [12]. To improve sensitivity as well as to measure average properties, pooling of multiple bees in samples is also an option [8][9][10][11]14,25]. The work reported here builds on a recent result in detecting proline in the honeybee brain by NMR [15] to further develop the feasibility of single bee and single bee brain NMR of aqueous metabolites on relatively conventional NMR instrumentation, employing high field (14.1 T) and low field (1.88 T) NMR instruments.…”

Review on Apiary Management and Antimicrobial Compounds as Alternative Prevention or Treatment for Honeybee Diseases

“…Although hymenoptaecin showed the greatest increase in expression, its expression level was more consistent in between two time-points (Cornman et al, 2013). Wu et al (2017) suggested that it is important to understand the synergistic effects of parasitism on honeybee colonies. Understanding the resistance mechanisms of the honeybees against pathogens and parasites will help in breeding hybrids, pathogen-and parasite-resistant bees and the development of rationally designed pathogen and parasite prevention methods.…”

“…Metabolomics, a comprehensive quantitative and qualitative analysis of all metabolites in samples, can be used to evaluate the metabolic processes under given physiological and pathological conditions (Nicholson and Lindon, 2008). Wu et al (2017) studied the metabolomic profile of brains of healthy and V. destructor infested A. cerana using untargeted LC-MS/MS. After multivariate statistical analyses, 64 days regulated metabolites, including fatty acids, amino acids, carboxylic acid and phospholipids were identified.…”