Developmental environment shapes honeybee worker response to virus infection

Area of Science:

• Animal behavior and physiology
• Insect immunology
• Environmental stress biology

Background:

• Early-life experiences, particularly nutrition and social environment, profoundly shape adult phenotypes in developing animals.
• In honeybees (Apis mellifera), larval nutrition dictates adult social roles (queen vs. worker), but its impact on worker disease resilience remains understudied.
• Understanding how developmental nutrition affects adult immunity is crucial for honeybee health and colony survival.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of two distinct early-life nutritional stress manipulations on honeybee worker resilience to viral infection.
• To assess the effects of nutritional stress on honeybee mortality, body condition, and immune gene expression following challenge with Israeli acute paralysis virus (IAPV).

Main Methods:

• Manipulated worker developmental nutrition through social isolation (lack of alloparental care) and colony-wide diet quality restriction under semi-natural field conditions.
• Challenged adult bees from both nutritional stress groups with Israeli acute paralysis virus (IAPV).
• Quantified bee mortality, assessed body condition, and measured the expression of key immune-related genes.

Main Results:

• Both forms of early-life nutritional stress significantly reduced honeybee resilience to IAPV infection, leading to increased mortality.
• Nutritional stress altered the expression of several key genes involved in immune function in adult workers.
• Body condition was also affected by the nutritional manipulations, potentially contributing to reduced disease resilience.

Conclusions:

• Early-life nutritional stress, even when mediated by social factors, has profound negative consequences on honeybee immune function and disease resistance.
• These findings highlight the critical role of adequate nutrition during development for maintaining adult health and resilience in honeybees.
• Understanding nutritional stress impacts is vital for managing honeybee health, especially in conjunction with other stressors like pathogens.