High royal jelly production is an adaptive reproductive investment syndrome in honey bees that enhances their nursing ability to queen bee larvae. However, the biological basis of this reproduction investment at the multi-organ level remains elusive. In this study, proteome across 11 organs of two bee stocks: high royal jelly production bees (RJBs) and Italian bees (ITBs) was compared. Our analysis revealed significant differences in protein expression profiles in brain, fat body, mandibular gland, and Malpighian tubule, highlighting their crucial roles in regulating royal jelly secretion in RJBs. The increased energy turnover, protein synthesis, and lipid synthesis observed in RJBs compared to ITBs highlight their enhanced metabolic activity, which is essential for the robust secretion of royal jelly in RJBs. The elevated abundance of major royal jelly proteins (MRJPs), hexamerins, and vitellogenin suggests their critical contributions to the nutritional and material requirement necessary for royal jelly secretion. Furthermore, the high level of vitellogenin and juvenile hormone esterase may suppress juvenile hormones, which contribute to a strong royal jelly secretion and sensitivity of RJBs to larval pheromones relative to ITBs. This comprehensive dataset contributes to a better understanding of nursing behavior and reproductive investment in honey bees. Significiance. The royal jelly secretion syndrome is a colony level social trait dominated by the intricate interplay of multiple organs. However, previous studies have primarily focused on individual organs. In this study, the proteome of 11 organs was compared between high royal jelly production bees (RJBs) and Italian bees (ITBs) to provide knowledge on how multiple organs cooperate to boost the elevated royal jelly production by RJBs. Nutrition supply was sufficient at multiple organs of RJBs when compared to ITBs, indicating that nutrition plays an essential role in boosting energy metabolism, protein and lipid synthesis, and directly contributes to the amount of royal jelly secretion. The high level of secretion of storage proteins, such as MRJPs, hex, and vitellogenin, provides sufficient nutrition and material for royal jelly secretion. Moreover, the higher levels of vitellogenin and juvenile hormone esterase may suppress juvenile hormone synthesis, and contributing to stronger sense of RJBs to larval pheromone relative to ITBs. This suggests that nutrition can influence the hormone levels and sensory abilities of RJBs nurse bees to promote their royal jelly secretion ability. The reported data provide insights into the systematic regulation strategy of honeybee nursing behavior and reproductive investment.

In this article, we report the pathogenicity of a new strain of fungus, Rhizopus oryzae to honeybee larvae, isolated from the chalkbrood-diseased mummies of honeybee larvae and pupae collected from apiaries in China. Based on morphological observation and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region analyses, the isolated pathogenic fungus was identified as R. oryzae. Koch’s postulates were performed to determine the cause-and-effect pathogenicity of this isolate fungus. The in vitro pathogenicity of this virulent fungus in honeybees was tested by artificially inoculating worker larvae in the lab. The pathogenicity of this new fungus for honeybee larvae was both conidial-concentration and exposure-time dependent; its highly infectious and virulent effect against the larvae was observed at 1 × 105 conidia/larva in vitro after 96 h of challenge. Using probit regression analysis, the LT50 value against the larvae was 26.8 h at a conidial concentration of 1 × 105 conidia/larva, and the LC50 was 6.2 × 103 conidia/larva. These results indicate that the new isolate of R. oryzae has considerable pathogenicity in honeybee larvae. Additionally, this report suggests that pathogenic phytofungi may harm their associated pollinators. We recommend further research to quantify the levels, mechanisms, and pathways of the pathogenicity of this novel isolated pathogen for honeybee larvae at the colony level.

功能性食品和天然保健品已成为人们日常饮食的重要组成部分,为人们的整体健康做出了贡献,并推动了全球食品工业的发展.因此,行业利益相关者和政策制定者也对这类产品加强监管.全球监管环境似乎倾向于将蜂胶归为保健食品类别,尽管该类别在世界各地也有不同的名称、注册要求和允许的声明.

苜蓿切叶蜂是膜翅目蜜蜂总科切叶蜂科切叶蜂属昆虫,是蜜蜂总科中长口器的进化类群之一.全球已经记载的切叶蜂科约4000种,是蜜蜂总科中比较大的类群.切叶蜂因切割植物叶片筑巢而得名,是喜欢群居的独居型昆虫.切叶蜂主要采集苜蓿、草木犀、白三叶草、红三叶草等豆科牧草.其中目前商业化的苜蓿切叶蜂是苜蓿的优良授粉昆虫,在苜蓿种子增产中发挥着重要作用.

汇总分析了 2022年我国蜂王浆产品和蜂花粉的分国别出口情况、分地区出口情况及各月的出口情况,并与2021年进行了对比分析.

汇总分析了 2022年我国蜂产品出口的总体情况,2022年我国蜂蜜和蜂蜡的分国别出口情况、分地区出口情况、及各月的出口情况,并与2021年进行了对比分析.

一、切叶蜂的分类地位及种类 切叶蜂科(Megachilidae)是蜜蜂总科中长口器类的一个大科.切叶蜂科形态多样,具有寄生和非寄生两个亚群.切叶蜂科其下包括两个亚科:切叶蜂亚科和毛腹蜂亚科.据不完全统计,目前全世界切叶蜂亚科共203属及亚属,近4000种.中国有记载的切叶蜂18属,47亚属,305种及亚种.

Sulfoxaflor is a widely used pesticide in agriculture. However, the molecular effects of sublethal sulfoxaflor on honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) remain elusive. Here, the effects of a sublethal dose of sulfoxaflor (0.05 μg/bee) on the brain and midgut proteome response of the honeybee were investigated. Exposure to sublethal sulfoxaflor doses did not cause significant honeybee death, but it induced significant alterations in the brain and midgut proteomes. After sulfoxaflor challenge, 135 and 28 proteins were differentially regulated in the brain and midgut, respectively. The up-regulated proteins were mainly implicated in energy metabolism, neurotransmitter transport and drug metabolism processes, and included in particular enzymes of the citrate cycle and cellular respiration process, such as ATP citrate synthase, malate dehydrogenase, cytochrome b-c1 complex subunits, and NADH dehydrogenase. These findings suggest that honeybees enhance energy metabolism in the midgut and brain to resist sulfoxaflor challenge. Notably, treatment with sulfoxaflor resulted in a 6.8 times increase in expression levels of the major royal jelly protein 1 (MRJP1) in the brain, and knockdown of MRJP1 mRNA expression using RNA interference significantly decreased the survival rate, indicating that MRJP1 may play an important role in sulfoxaflor tolerance. Our data reveals that sulfoxaflor influences multiple processes related to both metabolism and the nervous system, and provides novel insights into the molecular basis of the honeybee brain and midgut response to sublethal dose of sulfoxaflor.

Egg size plasticity represents an adaptive reproductive strategy in numerous organisms, including the honey bee, Apis mellifera . However, the proximate causation of this plasticity and egg size in general is unknown. We show that honey bee queens predictably and reversibly adjust egg size in response to their colony size and that this plasticity is an active response to the queens’ perception of colony size instead of a consequence of egg laying rate. The egg size increase involves changes of 290 ovarian proteins, mostly related to increased energy metabolism, protein transport, and cytoskeleton functions. Spatio-temporal expression analysis of the small GTPase Rho1 indicates its central role in egg size regulation, which we confirm by RNAi-mediated gene knock-down and expression analyses. The molecular adjustments that promote maternal investment of honey bee queens in response to their social environment thus reveal a novel mechanism of egg size regulation.

【Objective】The objective of this study is to investigate the proteome profile of the postcereberal gland (PGld) and thoracic gland (ThGld) between high royal jelly producing bees (Apis mellifera liguatica, RJBs) and Italian bees (Apis mellifera liguatica, ITBs) with the aim of revealing the molecular basis of salivary gland regulating royal jelly production, and to provide a basis for analyzing the high-yield mechanism of royal jelly.【Method】PGld and ThGld were dissected from nurse bees of RJBs and ITBs. After protein extraction and enzyme digestion, the peptide samples were analyzed by liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry. Furthermore, the mass spectral data were qualified and quantified by MaxQuant software, and the following bioinformatic analysis was conducted using Perseus software, prediction of secretory protein was achieved by SignalP database, biological process and KEGG pathway were enriched by Cluego software.【Result】Totally 2 335 proteins were identified in salivary glands of RJBs and ITBs nurse bees, including 1 823 proteins in PGld and 1 922 proteins in ThGld. The expression profiles of the core proteins in the PGld and ThGld of RJBs and ITBs were similar, mainly involved in RNA metabolism, nucleic acid metabolism, ATP metabolism, protein translation, translation regulation and catabolism. The principal component analysis (PCA) showed that the molecular basis of salivary gland of RJBs and ITBs had exerted varying extent of differentiation during the selective breeding. Quantitatively, the PGld of ITBs and RJBs expressed 254 and 333 up-regulated proteins, respectively, corresponding to the small molecule and carbohydrate metabolism pathway in ITBs, and the organic nitrogen compound synthesis, cell redox homeostasis, amino acid metabolism in RJBs. Those proved that the protein synthesis, amino acid metabolism and energy supply of salivary gland cells in RJBs were more active than ITBs. In the same way, the up-regulated expressions of 412 and 162 proteins were detected in the ThGld of ITBs and RJBs, respectively, which involved in the pathways of oxidative phosphorylation, translation regulation in ITBs, and oxidative phosphorylation, response to toxic substances in RJBs, indicating that the level of resistance of RJBs ThGld cells was increased. A total of 43 secretory proteins were identified in the salivary glands of RJBs and ITBs, in which 15 were detected in royal jelly. Major royal jelly proteins 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7 were detected in PGld and ThGld, indicating that both of the glands were involved in the synthesis of royal jelly main protein. The identification of α-glucosidase related to nectar transformation and odorant binding proteins 3, 13, 17 and 21 involved in the synthesis and release of chemical pheromones in both PGld and ThGld indicated their basic function of nectar transformation and pheromone synthesis. The enhanced expression of major royal jelly proteins 1, 2, 3 and 7, hexamerin 70a and 110, odorant binding proteins 3, 13, 17 and 21, transferrin and apolipophorin-III-like protein in the salivary gland of RJBs demonstrated that the synthesis of pheromone and royal jelly protein was stronger than ITBs.【Conclusion】The core proteome with similar pattern in salivary glands of RJBs and ITBs ensures the synthesis and secretion of royal jelly protein, pheromone and invertase. Molecular variation between the salivary glands of RJBs and ITBs was developed after long-term selective breeding. Relative to ITBs, the salivary glands of RJBs enhance the ability of protein synthesis, amino acid metabolism, cell energy supply and stress resistance, and upregulate the expression of most secretory proteins, which benefits to a better protein synthesis system with promising efficiency and lasting, and contributes to the high producing of royal jelly.

The honeybee species A. mellifera and A. cerana have evolved substantial differences in olfactory-driven behaviors and in peripheral olfactory systems. Knowledge of the central nervous system regulating these olfaction differences is limited, however. We compared the phosphoproteome of the antennal lobes (ALs, the primary olfactory neuropil) of A. mellifera and A. cerana, and identified a total of 2812 phosphopeptides carrying 2971 phosphosites from 1265 phosphoproteins. Of these, 76% of the phosphoproteins were shared by both species, which were mainly presynapse and cytoskeleton components, and were involved in signal transduction and neurotransmitter secretion. This finding indicates the fundamental role of protein phosphorylation in regulating signal transduction in the ALs. The mTOR signaling pathway, the phagosome pathway, and the autophagy pathway, which are important in protein metabolism, were enriched, suggesting glomeruli plasticity and olfactory processing are intensively modulated by phosphorylation via these pathways. Compared with A. mellifera, 107 phosphoproteins associated with protein metabolism and transport were uniquely expressed in A. cerana, indicating the protein synthesis-dependent synaptic plasticity is enhanced in A. cerana to facilitate the processing of more complex floral odor clues in mountain foraging areas. This finding is further supported by the significantly upregulated key phosphoproteins of the mTOR signaling pathway in A. cerana ALs. These results provide insights into the phosphoproteomic basis of neuroplasticity that is coupled with the divergent evolution of bees in different environments. SIGNIFICANCE: To adapt to their own ecological niche, the two major honeybee species, A. mellifera and A. cerana, have developed significant difference in olfactory-driven behaviors, but our understanding of the underlying regulation of the central nervous system is still limitate. Here we performed the first comprehensive phosphoproteomic comparison of antennal lobes (Als) between A. mellifera and A. cerena. A large proportion of the identified phosphosites and phosphoproteins were shared between the two species to serve as a core network in the regulation of signal transduction and glomeruli plasticity of ALs. However, compared with A. mellifera, 107 phosphoproteins associated with protein metabolism and transport were uniquely identified in A. cerana ALs, and also several key phosphoproteins in mTOR signaling pathway were found upregulated in A. cerana. These findings indicate protein phosphorylation enhanced the protein synthesis-dependent synaptic plasticity in A. cerana to facilitate the processing of more complex floral odor clues in mountain foraging areas. Our data provide a valuable insight into phosphoproteome-driven cerebral regulation of honeybee olfactory behaviors, which is potentially useful for further neurobiological investigation in both honeybees and other insects.

Ascosphaera apis is the causative agent of honey bee chalkbrood disease, and spores are the only known source of infections. Interference with sporulation is therefore a promising way to manage A. apis. The versicolorin reductase gene (StcU-2) is a ketoreductase protein related to sporulation and melanin biosynthesis. To study the StcU-2 gene in ascospore production of A. apis, CRISPR/Cas9 was used, and eight hygromycin B antibiotic-resistant transformants incorporating enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) were made and analyzed. PCR amplification, gel electrophoresis, and sequence analysis were used for target gene editing analysis and verification. The CRISPR/Cas9 editing successfully knocked out the StcU-2 gene in A. apis. StcU-2 mutants had shown albino and non-functional spore-cyst development and lost effective sporulation. In conclusion, editing of StcU-2 gene has shown direct relation with sporulation and melanin biosynthesis of A. apis; this effective sporulation reduction would reduce the spread and pathogenicity of A. apis to managed honey bee. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing has been efficiently performed in A. apis, a fungal honey bee brood pathogen, which offers a comprehensive set of procedural references that contributes to A. apis gene function studies and consequent control of chalkbrood disease.

Bee pollen as a nutrient-rich functional food has been considered for use as an adjuvant for chronic disease therapy. However, bee pollen can trigger food-borne allergies, causing a great concern to food safety. Our previous study demonstrated that the combined use of cellulase, pectinase and papain can hydrolyze allergens into peptides and amino acids, resulting in reduced allergenicity of bee pollen based on in vitro assays. Herein, we aimed to further explore the mechanisms behind allergenicity alleviation of enzyme-treated bee pollen through a BALB/c mouse model. Results showed that the enzyme-treated bee pollen could mitigate mice scratching frequency, ameliorate histopathological injury, decrease serum IgE level, and regulate bioamine production. Moreover, enzyme-treated bee pollen can modulate metabolic pathways and gut microbiota composition in mice, further supporting the alleviatory allergenicity of enzyme-treated bee pollen. The findings could provide a foundation for further development and utilization of hypoallergenic bee pollen products.

Bee pollen as a plant-derived food is consumed as nutritional/functional supplements by humans. But it might confer foodborne allergenicity in susceptible populations, limiting its extensive application. In this study, five potential allergens including profilin, cystatin, prolamin, expansin, and alcohol dehydrogenase in bee pollen derived from Brassica campestris (BP-Bc), were identified through mass spectrometry-based proteomic analysis. Moreover, different types of enzymes (cellulases, pectases, and papains) serve biological roles in pollen wall breaking and expansion, but also promote allergen release and degradation. Proteomic analysis showed that profilin, cystatin, and alcohol dehydrogenase were significantly reduced in BP-Bc following joint treatment with three enzymes. Metabolomic characterization of potential enzymatic hydrolysates of these significantly-decreased allergens was performed, which showed nine major oligopeptides and six amino acids at significantly higher levels in the enzyme-treated BP-Bc. These findings clarified the culprit responsible for bee pollen allergy and the mechanism of enzymatic desensitization for its further development.

Reproduction involves the investment of resources into offspring. Although variation in reproductive effort often affects the number of offspring, adjustments of propagule size are also found in numerous species, including the Western honey bee, Apis mellifera . However, the proximate causes of these adjustments are insufficiently understood, especially in oviparous species with complex social organization in which adaptive evolution is shaped by kin selection. Here, we show in a series of experiments that queens predictably and reversibly increase egg size in small colonies and decrease egg size in large colonies, while their ovary size changes in the opposite direction. Additional results suggest that these effects cannot be solely explained by egg-laying rate and are due to the queens’ perception of colony size. Egg-size plasticity is associated with quantitative changes of 290 ovarian proteins, most of which relate to energy metabolism, protein transport, and cytoskeleton. Based on functional and network analyses, we further study the small GTPase Rho1 as a candidate regulator of egg size. Spatio-temporal expression analysis via RNAscope and qPCR supports an important role of Rho1 in egg-size determination, and subsequent RNAi-mediated gene knockdown confirmed that Rho1 has a major effect on egg size in honey bees. These results elucidate how the social environment of the honey bee colony may be translated into a specific cellular process to adjust maternal investment into eggs. It remains to be studied how widespread this mechanism is and whether it has consequences for population dynamics and epigenetic influences on offspring phenotype in honey bees and other species.

一、美国蜂蜜反倾销案 2021年4月21日,美国商务部收到美国蜂蜜生产商协会和Sioux蜂蜜协会的请愿书,指控五个蜂蜜出口国——阿根廷、巴西、印度、乌克兰和越南的蜂蜜倾销.国际贸易委员会允许反倾销案继续进行,表明存在对请愿者的潜在损害.

Bee pollen is consumed for its nutritional and pharmacological benefits, but it also contains hazardous allergens which have not been identified. Here, we identified two potential allergens, glutaredoxin and oleosin-B2, in Brassica napus bee pollen using mass spectrometry-based proteomics analyses, and used bioinformatics to predict their antigenic epitopes. Comparison of fermented (by Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and unfermented bee pollen samples indicated that glutaredoxin and oleosin-B2 contents were significantly decreased following fermentation, while the contents of their major constituent oligopeptides and amino acids were significantly increased based on metabolomics analyses. Immunoblot analysis indicated that the IgE-binding affinity with extracted bee pollen proteins was also significantly decreased after fermentation, suggesting a reduction in the allergenicity of fermented bee pollen. Furthermore, fermentation apparently promoted the biosynthesis of L-valine, L-isoleucine, L-tryptophan, and L-phenylalanine, as well as their precursors or intermediates. Thus, fermentation could potentially alleviate allergenicity, while also positively affecting nutritional properties of B. napus bee pollen. Our findings might provide a scientific foundation for improving the safety of bee pollen products to facilitate its wider application.

Behavioral specialization is key to the success of social insects and leads to division of labor among colony members. Response thresholds to task-specific stimuli are thought to proximally regulate behavioral specialization, but their neurobiological regulation is complex and not well understood. Here, we show that response thresholds to task-relevant stimuli correspond to the specialization of three behavioral phenotypes of honeybee workers in the well-studied and important Apis mellifera and Apis cerana. Quantitative neuropeptidome comparisons suggest two tachykinin-related peptides (TRP2 and TRP3) as candidates for the modification of these response thresholds. Based on our characterization of their receptor binding and downstream signaling, we confirm a functional role of tachykinin signaling in regulating specific responsiveness of honeybee workers: TRP2 injection and RNAi-mediated downregulation cause consistent, opposite effects on responsiveness to task-specific stimuli of each behaviorally specialized phenotype but not to stimuli that are unrelated to their tasks. Thus, our study demonstrates that TRP signaling regulates the degree of task-specific responsiveness of specialized honeybee workers and may control the context specificity of behavior in animals more generally.

Royal jelly (RJ), a natural secretion of nurse bees, is a functional food with health-promoting properties. To investigate RJ quality changes with enhanced output and harvesting time, we compared metabolic profiles of RJ harvested at 24 h, 48 h, and 72 h after larval grafting into queen cells from Italian bees (ITBs) and high RJ-producing bees (RJBs) selected from ITBs. A total of 77 high-abundance compounds were identified with reverse-phase liquid chromatography- and hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry. Metabolite abundance, water content, and antibacterial activity were found largely unchanged between both bee strains, indicating that a similar RJ quality was achieved. Notably, the observed 10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid content in RJBs (1.98%) and ITBs (2.41%) meet the standard for premium RJ in China. RJ harvested at 48 h and 72 h had similar metabolic profiles, indicating little influence of the two harvesting times on RJ quality. The harvesting at 24 h could lead to a higher RJ quality with higher abundance levels of many bioactive compounds and lower water content. Our data based mainly on RJ metabolic composition constitute evidence for mass production of high-quality RJ.