Herbivore Defence Compounds Occur in Pollen and Reduce Bumblebee Colony Fitness

Arnold, Sarah E. J.; Idrovo, M. Eduardo Peralta; Arias, Luis J. Lomas; Belmain, Steven R.; Stevenson, Philip C.

doi:10.1007/s10886-014-0467-4

Cited by 72 publications

(83 citation statements)

References 19 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Pollen samples were extracted in methanol following previously published methods80. Unground pollen (5–50 mg) was sonicated for 10 min with 1 mL methanol in a 2 mL microcentrifuge tube, then incubated without shaking for an additional 24 h at room temperature.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bumble bee parasite strains vary in resistance to phytochemicals

Palmer‐Young¹,

Sadd

Stevenson

et al. 2016

Sci Rep

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Nectar and pollen contain diverse phytochemicals that can reduce disease in pollinators. However, prior studies showed variable effects of nectar chemicals on infection, which could reflect variable phytochemical resistance among parasite strains. Inter-strain variation in resistance could influence evolutionary interactions between plants, pollinators, and pollinator disease, but testing direct effects of phytochemicals on parasites requires elimination of variation between bees. Using cell cultures of the bumble bee parasite Crithidia bombi, we determined (1) growth-inhibiting effects of nine floral phytochemicals and (2) variation in phytochemical resistance among four parasite strains. C. bombi growth was unaffected by naturally occurring concentrations of the known antitrypanosomal phenolics gallic acid, caffeic acid, and chlorogenic acid. However, C. bombi growth was inhibited by anabasine, eugenol, and thymol. Strains varied >3-fold in phytochemical resistance, suggesting that selection for phytochemical resistance could drive parasite evolution. Inhibitory concentrations of thymol (4.53–22.2 ppm) were similar to concentrations in Thymus vulgaris nectar (mean 5.2 ppm). Exposure of C. bombi to naturally occurring levels of phytochemicals—either within bees or during parasite transmission via flowers—could influence infection in nature. Flowers that produce antiparasitic phytochemicals, including thymol, could potentially reduce infection in Bombus populations, thereby counteracting a possible contributor to pollinator decline.

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bumble bee parasite strains vary in resistance to phytochemicals

Palmer‐Young¹,

Sadd

Stevenson

et al. 2016

Sci Rep

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Unmated workers lay haploid (male) eggs when isolated from the queen, and microcolonies are an effective means of estimating whole-colony reproduction as a function of diet [11,35]. We placed trios of newly emerged bees in 500 ml clear deli containers (RD 16C, Placon Products, Madison, WI, USA) with an absorbent paper insert and fed them ad libitum 30% sucrose solution and pollen for 2 days before treatments began.…”

Section: (Iii) Experiments 2: Costs and Benefits Of Secondary Metabolimentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There are numerous reports of bees poisoned by secondary metabolites in nectar and pollen [6,10], and bees can incur reproductive costs when they consume these compounds [11]. However, limited evidence demonstrates that secondary metabolites can benefit bees, for example by enhancing memory and foraging efficiency [12], reducing parasite infection [13] and controlling pathogenic fungi [14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Secondary metabolites in floral nectar reduce parasite infections in bumblebees

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The synthesis of secondary metabolites is a hallmark of plant defence against herbivores. These compounds may be detrimental to consumers, but can also protect herbivores against parasites. Floral nectar commonly contains secondary metabolites, but little is known about the impacts of nectar chemistry on pollinators, including bees. We hypothesized that nectar secondary metabolites could reduce bee parasite infection. We inoculated individual bumblebees with Crithidia bombi, an intestinal parasite, and tested effects of eight naturally occurring nectar chemicals on parasite population growth. Secondary metabolites strongly reduced parasite load, with significant effects of alkaloids, terpenoids and iridoid glycosides ranging from 61 to 81%. Using microcolonies, we also investigated costs and benefits of consuming anabasine, the compound with the strongest effect on parasites, in infected and uninfected bees. Anabasine increased time to egg laying, and Crithidia reduced bee survival. However, anabasine consumption did not mitigate the negative effects of Crithidia, and Crithidia infection did not alter anabasine consumption. Our novel results highlight that although secondary metabolites may not rescue survival in infected bees, they may play a vital role in mediating Crithidia transmission within and between colonies by reducing Crithidia infection intensities.

show abstract

“…Roulston et al, 2000;Di Pasquale et al, 2013;Vanderplanck et al, 2014). pollen diets including more than one plant species) can mitigate the lack of nutrients or the presence of toxic chemicals in a monofloral diet (Arnold et al, 2014;Eckhardt et al, 2014). The variations in chemical compositions appear to influence colony development (Tase€ ı & Aupinel, 2008a;Vanderplanck et al, 2014;Kamper et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pollen nutrients better explain bumblebee colony development than pollen diversity

Moerman

Vanderplanck

Fournier

et al. 2017

Insect Conserv Diversity

100

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Bumblebees are valuable pollinators of numerous wild and cultivated plants. They can forage on variable pollen resources. As some pollen species lack particular nutrients or have global low nutritional quality, it has been suggested that bumblebees mix their pollen incomes to ensure a global balanced diet. The hypothesis that a mixed pollen diet better supports bumblebee colony development than a single pollen diet has been poorly explored. We compared the impact of mono‐, di‐ and trifloral diets on microcolony development of Bombus terrestris using three pollen resources with different nutrient contents (Cytisus scoparius, Erica sp. and Sorbus aucuparia) as well as their mixes. Nine parameters (e.g. pollen efficacy: total weight of larvae/total weight of pollen collection) were used to compare the microcolony performances. Moreover, we measured the influence of the pollen diversity and nutritional composition on relevant parameters. We showed that microcolonies can potentially better develop on mixed pollen diets, but single pollen diet can also be as good as mixed pollen diet. Moreover, the sterol concentration appeared as a key factor to establish the impact of a pollen diet on the bumblebee colony development. This study reveals that diverse pollen diet does not necessary equate with good colony development and supports the importance of selecting floral resources by considering their nutrient contents for bee conservation management.

show abstract

Herbivore Defence Compounds Occur in Pollen and Reduce Bumblebee Colony Fitness

Cited by 72 publications

References 19 publications

Bumble bee parasite strains vary in resistance to phytochemicals

Bumble bee parasite strains vary in resistance to phytochemicals

Secondary metabolites in floral nectar reduce parasite infections in bumblebees

Pollen nutrients better explain bumblebee colony development than pollen diversity

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About