Consequences of Nosema apis infection for male honey bees and their fertility
نویسندگان
چکیده
The queens of eusocial bees, ants and wasps mate only during a very short period early in life and males therefore produce ejaculates consisting of large numbers of high quality sperm. Such extreme selection for high fecundity resulted in males investing minimally into their somatic survival, including their immune system. However, if susceptible males are unable to protect their reproductive tissue from infections, they compromise queen fitness if they transfer pathogens during mating. We used the honey bee Apis mellifera and investigated the course of infection of the sexually transmitted pathogen Nosema apis. We predicted that honey bee males are susceptible but protect their reproductive tissues from infections. We investigated the effects of N. apis infections on the midgut, the accessory glands and the accessory testes and quantified the consequences of infection on male survival and fecundity. We found that N. apis is able to infect males, and as infections progressed, it significantly impacted fertility and survival in older males. Even though we confirm males to be able to minimize N. apis infections of their reproductive tissues, the parasite is present in ejaculates of older males. Consequently N. apis evolved alternative routes to successfully infect ejaculates and get sexually transmitted.
منابع مشابه
Infra-Population and -Community Dynamics of the Parasites Nosema apis and Nosema ceranae, and Consequences for Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) Hosts
Nosema spp. fungal gut parasites are among myriad possible explanations for contemporary increased mortality of western honey bees (Apis mellifera, hereafter honey bee) in many regions of the world. Invasive Nosema ceranae is particularly worrisome because some evidence suggests it has greater virulence than its congener N. apis. N. ceranae appears to have recently switched hosts from Asian hon...
متن کاملRetrospective study of the Nosema ceranae infection of honey bee colonies in Iran (2004-2013)
Nosemosis is the most common disease in adult bees. Nosema apis and Nosema ceranae species are agents of important economic losses to beekeepers around the world. The severity of disease at various area is different. Previously, N. apis was observed in areas with a long winter, especially in late winter and early spring. But in recent years, disease has been reported in the warm seasons. The st...
متن کاملSzalanski et al.: Detection of Nosema from Feral Apis mellifera 585 MOLECULAR DETECTION OF NOSEMA APIS AND N. CERANAE FROM SOUTHWESTERN AND SOUTH CENTRAL USA FERAL AFRICANIZED AND EUROPEAN HONEY BEES, APIS MELLIFERA (HYMENOPTERA: APIDAE)
A Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) molecular diagnostic survey for the honey bee pathogens Nosema apis Zander and N. ceranae Fries was conducted on feral Africanized honey bee (AHB) and European honey bee (EHB), Apis mellifera L., populations sampled from Mississippi, Arkansas, Texas, Utah, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. Polymerase Chain Reaction – Restriction Fragment Length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) ...
متن کاملCharacterizing the Impact of Commercial Pollen Substitute Diets on the Level of Nosema spp. in Honey Bees (Apis mellifera L.)
Western honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) populations face declines commonly attributed to pesticide, pathogen, and parasite stress. One way beekeepers combat these stressors is by providing supplemental protein diets to honey bee colonies to ensure adequate colony nutrition. However Nosema spp., a microsporidian parasite of the honey bee, is thought to be associated closely with a colony's nutriti...
متن کاملImmune suppression in the honey bee (Apis mellifera) following infection by Nosema ceranae (Microsporidia).
Two microsporidia species have been shown to infect Apis mellifera, Nosema apis and Nosema ceranae. This work presents evidence that N. ceranae infection significantly suppresses the honey bee immune response, although this effect was not observed following infection with N. apis. Immune suppression would also increase susceptibility to other bee pathogens and senescence. Despite the importance...
متن کامل