Cytogenetic studies in stingless bees date back to 1948 and have been useful to discriminate cryptic species and to infer the karyotype evolution in this diverse group of insects. However, a limitation of existing chromosome preparation protocols for bees is the lack of a cell suspension that can be stored for subsequent chromosome preparations. Therefore, the goal of this novel protocol was to obtain a suspension of dividing cells for each specimen allowing the analysis of an increased number...

Pollination by honeybees is vital for maintaining the health of both ecological and agricultural systems. However, honeybee health is often influenced by multiple environmental stresses. Therefore, identifying the key genes involved in stress responses and investigating the molecular mechanisms through which honeybees respond to environmental stress are crucial. In this study, we report that Apis cerana cerana DnaJC28 (AccDnaJC28) is a typical DnaJ protein belonging to the heat shock protein...

The evolution and deployment of venom systems in animals have been central to their ecological success, though not without costs. For social bees, venom plays a key role in nest defence; yet for species such as honeybees, the act of stinging generally leads to death. However, for other social bee species such as bumblebees, where stinging is not apparently fatal, it raises the question of what, if any, are the consequences associated with venom usage (envenomation). Here, we investigated...

Antagonistic interactions often shape microbial communities, as co-residents compete for resources. One system of interbacterial antagonism involves tailocins: phage tail-like particles produced by some bacteria to kill close relatives. Their roles in natural communities are poorly studied. Here, we identified putative tailocin loci ubiquitously present in genomes of Snodgrassella species, core members of the bee gut microbiota. We purified tailocins from culture supernatants of different...

Managing and conserving species in the face of the current biodiversity crisis requires consistent information on the status of wild animal populations across large spatiotemporal scales. Budgetary constraints, differences in national legislation, and the challenges of coordinating logistics transnationally often limit survey efforts to spatial extents that rarely encompass the full distribution of many species, and temporal extents that rarely exceed a few years. These limitations are...

Bacterial skin infections are among the most prevalent health concerns in companion animals and represent a primary driver for antimicrobial prescriptions within veterinary practices. The widespread use of empirical broad-spectrum antibiotic prescribing has contributed to the emergence of antimicrobial-resistant pathogens, including Staphylococcus pseudintermedius and Pseudomonas aeruginosa in veterinary dermatology. This resistance complicates treatment outcomes and raises broader public health...

CONCLUSION: This exploratory pilot investigation revealed site-wise preliminary differences in taxonomy and putative metabolic functions of bacterial species. These results provide a baseline for future studies on the diversity and dynamics of functioning of gut-associated microbial communities of A. dorsata.

Bee venom is a complex, bioactive secretion with the composition and molecular diversity varying across honeybee subspecies and ecotypes, which influence both the function of the venom and the potential for apitherapy. In this study, we performed proteomic characterization of Apis mellifera bee venom from eight distinct, pooled colony samples. Proteome samples from crude venom were analyzed using LC-MS/MS, and multivariate bioinformatic analyses were performed using label-free quantification. In...

Honeybees (Apis mellifera) prefer nectar containing neonicotinoids despite severe exposure risk leading to colony collapse. The neural mechanisms underlying this preference behavior remain unknown, impeding the development of effective blocking strategies. Neonicotinoids act as acetylcholine receptor agonists, and dopamine is a vital neuromodulator in addictive behavior. We hypothesize that neonicotinoids could activate brain dopamine signaling in honeybees, reinforcing their feeding behavior....

Excessive molecular and cellular immune activation can drive marked systemic increases in inflammatory mediators, a process associated with high mortality in several pathological conditions. Although signs of such responses have been reported in patients after Africanized honeybee swarm attacks, the inflammatory syndrome induced by Apis mellifera venom (AmV) remains poorly understood. Here, we investigated AmV-induced inflammatory responses using a lepirudin-based ex vivo human whole-blood model...

Background Wild bees are essential pollinators, yet the populations of an increasing number of species are declining across Europe, with knowledge gaps particularly acute in mountain regions. The southern French Alps represent a biogeographically exceptional area, situated at the interface of Alpine and Mediterranean influences, but their bee fauna remains poorly documented. Here, we present a curated dataset of wild bee occurrence records from the village of Peyresq (France) and its...

The study of gustatory pathways from the periphery to the brain offers valuable insights into the neural mechanisms underlying taste processing and foraging choices, particularly in ecologically and economically relevant species such as the honey bee, Apis mellifera. While the neural substrates of other sensory modalities in bees, notably olfaction and vision, have been thoroughly characterized, the organization principles of gustatory pathways in the primary gustatory center (the subesophageal...

A central goal in evolutionary biology is to understand how species boundaries are maintained despite gene flow. Two North American wildflower species with divergent floral syndromes, Penstemon davidsonii (bee syndrome) and P. newberryi (bird syndrome), have formed hybrid zones in the eastern Sierra Nevada for at least 85 years. We combined multiple approaches to test whether divergent floral syndromes enforce reproductive isolation as predicted by classic models of pollinator-driven ecological...

Complete metamorphosis of insects is regulated by mutually interacting juvenile hormone (JH) and ecdysteroid signals. The holometabolous pupa is a stage at which a natural absence of JH permits adult morphogenesis. Administration of exogenous JH or synthetic JH mimics at this stage disrupts development, but details of the ectopic JH action are not well understood. Here, using time-resolved imaging in the red flour beetle (Tribolium castaneum) and the honey bee (Apis mellifera), we show that...

Ubiquitous pesticide pollution is a major driver of global wild insect declines and annual managed bee losses. Sensitivity to these chemicals may vary across species, sexes, and ecological contexts. Improving our understanding of the biological and behavioural factors shaping these variations is essential to ensure accuracy in toxicity testing and environmental risk assessment (ERA) schemes. Here, we show clear inter- and intraspecific differences in sensitivity to oral chronic neonicotinoid...

Pollinators play a critical role in global food production and ecosystem health, yet high losses of essential honey bee colonies have been reported worldwide. Climate change, habitat loss, parasites, pesticides, and poor nutrition are established pollinator threats, whereas environmental antibiotic pollution remains poorly understood. Antibiotic exposure may independently affect bees or interact with these stressors, potentially compounding adverse health effects. Synthetic antibiotic residues...

The continuing emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants highlights the need for host-directed antiviral strategies with specific molecular mechanisms. Honeybee (Apis mellifera) venom (HBV) contains bioactive peptides with immunomodulatory and membrane-active properties, yet their effects on SARS-CoV-2 infection remain insufficiently characterized. Here, we investigated the antiviral activity and proteomic impact of whole HBV and two venom-derived...

Once a very specialized area limited to a few model systems and well-equipped labs, genomics has become routine with sophisticated methods commercially available at manageable cost. Leveraging technologies developed for biomedical applications, plants and plant-associated organisms are experiencing a revolution in the characterization of their genomic 'hardware' (genes and genomes), 'software' (regulatory cues), and variation therein. Their experimental facility made plants an early model for...

Gas respirometry is widely used as a proxy of metabolic rate and provides valuable insights into an organism's energetic demands and performance. Compared to traditional flow-through respirometry, stop-flow respirometry is a versatile and effective method for quantifying low metabolic rates. Stop-flow respirometry involves placing an organism in a sealed chamber for a set period of time, then measuring the total CO2 produced and/or O2 consumed, which is then used to calculate the rate of gas...

Eusocial Hymenoptera present the highest known recombination rates among metazoans, which evolved several times independently among bees, ants and wasps. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain this observation, including stronger selection for recombination caused by coevolving parasites and pathogens, and strong sexual selection among haploid males due to male-biased sex ratios among reproductive individuals. In this article, we explore the effects of haplodiploidy and differential...

The Toll pathway mediates antimicrobial peptide (AMP) synthesis and participates in antiviral innate immunity in insects. However, how Toll-dependent antiviral responses are regulated during viral infection and how AMPs mediate antiviral defense remain incompletely understood. Here, we found that the Toll pathway constitutes an important part of the transcriptional response to Israeli acute paralysis virus (IAPV) infection in honey bees. PGRP-S2 was markedly up-regulated upon infection and...

Essential oils (EOs) are increasingly promoted as eco-friendly biopesticides, but their risks to pollinators remain poorly studied. This study evaluated the acute oral and contact toxicity, and biochemical responses including (AChE, CAT, GST, and MDA) of three Algerian medicinal plant EOs, i.e., Lavandula stoechas, Artemisia absinthium, and Mentha rotundifolia, on Apis mellifera intermissa worker bees, alongside their chemical composition determined by GC-MS. Significant EO dependent differences...

American foulbrood, a devastating bacterial disease affecting honey bee larvae, represents a major threat to apiculture worldwide. Its etiological agent, the Gram-positive, endospore-forming bacterium Paenibacillus larvae, has therefore been extensively studied to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying its pathogenicity and to identify key virulence determinants. In the present study, we identified the peritrichous flagella of P. larvae as a novel and important virulence factor of the...

Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) is a biodegradable polyester considered a sustainable alternative to conventional plastics. This study aimed to isolate a PHB-producing bacterium from agricultural soil and to evaluate the natural honey produced by Apis mellifera as an alternative carbon source for PHB production. A PHB-producing isolate was obtained and identified as Bacillus subtilis strain MUST-MWS1 based on morphological, biochemical, and 16 S rRNA gene analyses. Cultures were grown at pH 8.2...

CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrates that bee gut phages exhibit biogeographic structuring and host specificity. In addition, phages carry diverse functional genes that may influence bacterial metabolism and host-microbe interactions. These findings provide a comprehensive framework for understanding the ecological roles of phages in the bee gut and highlight their importance in shaping tripartite interactions among phages, bacteria, and bee hosts.

Emulating associative-learning-like responses and hardware-state-guided path optimization using reconfigurable physical networks offers a promising route toward adaptive neuromorphic hardware. Herein, a multiterminal reconfigurable Ag nanowire network is presented. This network exhibits a honeybee-inspired associative learning response and provides experimentally measured conductance states for ant colony pathfinding simulations. By employing a multielectrode array to deliver synchronized...

Light pollution affects about one quarter of the Earth's land surface and is rapidly growing in both extent and intensity with accelerated global urbanization. Artificial light at night (ALAN) constitutes the major source of light pollution and poses significant challenges to the health of many organisms, including pollinators. However, whether and how ALAN exposure affects bumblebees' physiology remain unexplored. Our study aims to preliminarily investigate the effects of ALAN exposure on...

Polyethylene (PE)-like polyesters have long been investigated as biodegradable alternatives to conventional polyolefins but degrade poorly despite possessing hydrolyzable esters due to high crystallinity and hydrophobicity. Bees of the genus Colletes line their nests with a PE-like polyester that shows no environmental accumulation despite decades of nesting in dense aggregations, suggesting rapid biodegradability. This work provides a comprehensive characterization of Colletes inaequalis...

Understanding the spatial dynamics of genetic ancestry is essential for elucidating historical and contemporary patterns of gene flow among populations. Honey bees in the United States have a 400-year history of importation, management, and adaptation to diverse environments. Genetic diversity is a key factor for colony health and resilience. Notably, the most genetically diverse populations in the country originate from the invasive A-lineage (Africanized or 'Killer' honey bees). In this study,...

CONCLUSIONS: Honey- and bee-associated E. faecium isolates possess genomic characteristics that provide a basis for future investigations involving natural antimicrobial compounds, microbial interactions, and biotechnological applications.