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Diet effects on honeybee immunocompetence.
Cédric Alaux1, François Ducloz, Didier Crauser
1INRA, UMR 406 Abeilles et Environnement, Laboratoire Biologie et Protection de l'abeille, Domaine Saint-Paul, Avignon, France. cedric.alaux@avignon.inra.fr
Biology Letters
|January 22, 2010
Summary
Honeybee immunity is influenced by diet. Diverse pollen diets boost immunocompetence (IC) more than high-protein diets, highlighting resource availability
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Immunology
- Animal Nutrition
Background:
- Immune system maintenance is energetically costly.
- Protein deficiency increases disease susceptibility.
- The link between insect nutrition and immunity is understudied.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how dietary protein quantity and diversity affect honeybee immunocompetence (IC).
- To assess the impact of diet on individual and social immunity in honeybees.
Main Methods:
- Tested honeybees (Apis mellifera) fed monofloral (protein quantity) and polyfloral (diet diversity) pollen.
- Measured individual immunity parameters: haemocyte concentration, fat body content, phenoloxidase activity.
- Assessed social immunity via glucose oxidase (GOX) activity.
Main Results:
- Dietary protein modified both individual and social IC, but higher protein quantity did not improve IC.
- Dietary diversity significantly increased IC levels.
- Polyfloral diets resulted in higher GOX activity than monofloral diets, even those richer in protein.
Conclusions:
- Honeybee immunity is linked to protein nutrition and diet diversity.
- Resource availability, particularly diet diversity, plays a critical role in pollinator health and immunocompetence.
