Nutrition affects stress resistance in African honeybees (Apis mellifera scutellata)

dc.contributor.authorWright, Geraldine A.
dc.contributor.emailarcher@demogr.mpg.deen_ZA
dc.contributor.upauthorArcher, C. Ruth
dc.contributor.upauthorPirk, Christian Walter Werner
dc.contributor.upauthorNicolson, Sue W.
dc.date.accessioned2015-06-02T09:31:42Z
dc.date.available2015-06-02T09:31:42Z
dc.date.issued2014en_ZA
dc.description.abstract1. Nutrition plays an important role in physiological stress resistance and by adjusting their intake of key nutrients, such as protein and carbohydrate, many animals can better resist stress. 2. Poor nutrition may contribute to the widespread and on-going declines of honeybee populations by increasing their vulnerability to abiotic (e.g. pesticides) and biotic (e.g. diseases) stressors. However, we do not know how nutrition affects stress resistance in social insects such as honeybees. 3. Here, we examined how exposure to the toxic secondary metabolite nicotine, a neurotoxin that shares structural similarities with the neonicotinoid pesticides, and low temperatures affected nutrient regulation in honeybees using the Geometric Framework of nutrition. 4. Groups of queenless, newly emerged worker bees were given diets containing specific ratios of protein and carbohydrate to determine, first, how toxin exposure and ambient temperature affected their nutrient intake and, secondly, how nutrition affected survival under stress. 5. We find that low temperatures and nicotine interacted to reduce survival in African honeybees that ate low protein, high carbohydrate diets. However, bees fed a high protein diet were better able to survive insult with these interacting stressors. 6. Although protein conferred a survival benefit in honeybees exposed to these dual stressors, when allowed to self-select their diet, caged workers did not shift their intake towards a higher protein food to improve their survival under these stressful conditions. 7. We discuss the possible constraints on nutrient regulation in honeybees and the role that diet could play in their decline.en_ZA
dc.description.librariantm2015en_ZA
dc.description.sponsorshipBBSRC, NERC, The Wellcome Trust, Defra, and the Scottish Government under the Insect Pollinators Initiative (BB/I000968/1)en_ZA
dc.description.tableofcontentsThis xls file contains: • Choice trail intake • Survival with no choice • Survival with choiceen_ZA
dc.identifier.citationArcher, C.R., Pirk, C.W.W., Wright, G.A. and Nicolson, S.W. (2014) Nutrition affects stress resistance in African honeybees (Apis mellifera scutellata). University of Pretoria, Department of Zoology and Entomology. http://hdl.handle.net/2263/45364en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/45364en_ZA
dc.language.isoenen_ZA
dc.publisherPretoria: University of Pretoria. Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences. Department of Zoology & Entomologyen_ZA
dc.relation.isreferencedbyhttp://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.12226en_ZA
dc.rights© University of Pretoria. Department of Zoology & Entomology © C. Ruth Archer. Re-use permitted with attribution. See the suggested citation to this itemen_ZA
dc.subjectGeometric frameworken_ZA
dc.subjectHoneybee (Apis mellifera)en_ZA
dc.subjectNicotineen_ZA
dc.subjectNutritionen_ZA
dc.subjectPollinator declinesen_ZA
dc.subjectThermoregulationen_ZA
dc.titleNutrition affects stress resistance in African honeybees (Apis mellifera scutellata)en_ZA
dc.typeDataseten_ZA

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