Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 7, 2025
08:36
Empirical, Metagenomic, and Computational Techniques Illuminate the Mechanisms by which Fungicides Compromise Bee Health
Published on: October 9, 2017
9.9K
Sunflower pollen induces rapid excretion in bumble bees: Implications for host-pathogen interactions.
Jonathan J Giacomini1, Nicholas Moore1, Lynn S Adler2
1Department of Applied Ecology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695 USA.
Journal of Insect Physiology
|January 12, 2022
Summary
Sunflower pollen consumption in bumble bees (Bombus impatiens) speeds up gut transit and increases excretion, potentially explaining its medicinal effect against the pathogen Crithidia bombi.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Insect Physiology
- Animal Behavior
Background:
- Host diet significantly influences host-pathogen interactions.
- Sunflower (Helianthus annuus) pollen reduces Crithidia bombi infection in bumble bees.
- A potential mechanism involves diet-induced changes in host gut physiology and excretion.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how sunflower pollen affects bumble bee gut physiology.
- To determine if diet and pathogen infection alter gut transit time and excretion.
- To test the hypothesis that rapid excretion explains sunflower pollen's medicinal properties.
Main Methods:
- A 2x2 factorial experiment was conducted with Bombus impatiens.
- Bees were either infected with Crithidia bombi or not.
- Bees were fed either sunflower or wildflower pollen diets, and gut transit time, excretion rate, and volume were measured.
Main Results:
- Sunflower pollen significantly reduced gut transit time in uninfected bees.
- Sunflower pollen increased the total number of excretion events by 66% and excrement volume by 68%.
- These effects on excretion were observed in both infected and uninfected bees.
Conclusions:
- Sunflower pollen consumption alters bumble bee gut physiology, leading to faster and greater excretion.
- This physiological change provides a plausible mechanism for the observed reduction in Crithidia bombi infection.
- Dietary interventions can modulate host physiology to combat pathogens.
Related Concept Videos
02:40Pollination and Flower Structure
71.1K
Flowers are the reproductive, seed-producing structures of angiosperms. Typically, flowers consist of sepals, petals, stamens, and carpels. Sepals and petals are the vegetative flower organs. Stamens and carpels are the reproductive organs.
71.1K
01:21Frequency-dependent Selection
22.3K
When the fitness of a trait is influenced by how common it is (i.e., its frequency) relative to different traits within a population, this is referred to as frequency-dependent selection. Frequency-dependent selection may occur between species or within a single species. This type of selection can either be positive—with more common phenotypes having higher fitness—or negative, with rarer phenotypes conferring increased fitness.
22.3K