Inhibitory Effects of Royal Jelly Acid, Myrmicacin, and Their Analogous Compounds on Pollen Germination, Pollen Tube Elongation, and Pollen Tube Mitosis

Standard methods for Apis mellifera royal jelly research

“…These findings provide evidence that fatty acids in royal jelly make a contribution to unravelling some of the most basic processes of honey bee and offer the related knowledge on pharmacological significance of royal jelly in human health. In fact, free fatty acids in royal jelly are potential sources of bioactive compounds that function at least as nutrients required for both oogenesis in a virgin queen and early development of larvae (McFarlane, 1968;Prosser, 1978;Yanes-Roca, Rhody, Nystrom, & Main, 2009;Ziegler & Vanantwerpen, 2006), as nutritional factors in the queen-worker dimorphism (Kim, Friso, & Choi, 2009;Kucharski, Maleszka, Foret, & Maleszka, 2008;Spannhoff et al, 2011;Turner, 2000;Waterland & Rached, 2006;Zaina, 2010), hormone precursors of queen retinue pheromones (Kodai, Nakatani, & Noda, 2011), and as antimicrobial and mite-repellent agents for pathogen invasion of a queen host (Blum et al, 1959;Drijfhout, Kochansky, Lin, & Calderone, 2005;Iwanami, Okada, Iwamatsu, & Iwadare, 1979;Nazzi, Bortolomeazzi, Della Vedova, Del Piccolo, & Milani, 2009). Free acids in royal jelly are useful as preventive and supportive medicines and function, for example, as potential inhibitors of cancer growth, immune system modulators, as alternative therapies for menopause, skin-aging protectors, as neurogenesis inducers, and more (Li et al, 2013).…”

Ant Inhibition of Pollen Function: A Possible Reason Why Ant Pollination Is Rare

“…However, bee pollinators also groom frequently, often while in flight from one flower to the next, removing all but the most inaccessible pollen (e.g., see Beattie, 1971). In addition, once stored in the "pollen basket," pollen loses much of its germinability (Kraai, 1962;Heinrich, 1979;Iwanami et at, 1979). Thirdly, worker ants do not fly and are generally assumed to have limited foraging areas, therefore it is thought that they cannot effect gene flow among the plants they service.…”

“…It is an inhibitor of the growth and spore germination of a variety of bacteria and fungi (Schildknecht, 1976;Maschwitz, Koob and Schildknecht, 1970). Of even greater interest, a series oflaboratory experiments have shown that myrmicacin, applied in minute quantities to pollen cultures, inhibits pollen germination and retards pollen tube growth Iwadare, 1978, 1979;Iwanami et aI., 1979Iwanami et aI., , 1981Nakamura, Miki-Hirosige and Iwanami, 1982). Since pollen growth is disrupted when subjected to ant secretions in the lab, does it suffer a similar fate when exposed to living, intact ants?…”

Discussion of development processes in insect‐fungus association derived from the shaggy parasol fruiting on the nests of hairy wood ants

“…Notable exceptions are entomogenous fungi, against which (in addition to a hard, waxy cuticle and a complex laminate exoskeleton) ants utilize their many chemical means of protection. A comprehensive range of fungistats and antigerminants are produced—the reason why so few ants are pollinators (Beatie, ; Beatie, Turnbull, Knox, & Williams, ; Iwanami & Iwadare, , ; Iwanami, Iwadare, Okada, & Iwamatsu, ) and relatively few are responsible for the dissemination of seeds (myrmecochory) (Beattie, ; Brand, Page, Lindner, & Markovetz, ; Culver & Beattie, ; Dumpert, ; Hori, ; Webster, ) (but see Berg, ; Giladi, ; Kinkaid, for exceptions). Mandibular, anal and metathoracic (metapleural) gland secretions, the latter playing a part in colony recognition (Brown, ; Maschwizt, ), are responsible for many antibiotic effects.…”