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Urbanization Shifts Immunometabolism in a Common Bumblebee
Virginie Cuvillier-Hot1, Alessandro Fisogni2, Vincent Doublet3
1Univ Lille, CNRS, UMR 8198-Evo-Eco-Paleo Lille France.
Ecology and Evolution
|December 23, 2024
Summary
Urbanization impacts wild bee health, but individual responses are unclear. This study found specific immune gene expressions in bumblebees increase with urbanization, indicating stress. These genes may serve as urban stress biomarkers for pollinators.
Area of Science:
- Urban Ecology
- Pollinator Health
- Immunology
Background:
- Urbanization creates novel habitats, potentially benefiting wild bees, yet poses challenges like fragmentation, pollution, and heat islands.
- Previous research focused on wild bee population-level responses (richness, diversity) to urbanization, neglecting individual physiological impacts.
- Data on how urbanization affects individual wild bee physiology and health, particularly their immune systems, is scarce.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of urbanization on the immune system of individual wild bees, specifically red-tailed bumblebees (Bombus lapidarius).
- To identify local environmental and ecological factors associated with urbanization that influence bee immune responses.
- To explore the potential of immune marker gene expression as an indicator of urban stress in pollinators.
Main Methods:
- Collected red-tailed bumblebee workers along an urbanization gradient defined by soil imperviousness.
- Assessed local environmental pressures (air quality) and ecological pressures (pathogen prevalence/loads, competition).
- Quantified the expression of selected immune marker genes in individual bees and analyzed their correlation with urbanization levels and local pressures.
Main Results:
- Observed increased expression of three immune marker genes, linked to cellular metabolism, with increasing urbanization levels.
- This immune gene expression pattern was independent of individual infection status and direct pollution exposure.
- The findings suggest a shift in wild bee immunometabolism in response to the stressful conditions of highly built-up urban environments.
Conclusions:
- Urbanization induces specific immune gene expression changes in bumblebees, indicative of physiological stress.
- These immune markers can serve as valuable biomarkers for assessing the level of urban stress experienced by pollinators.
- Understanding individual bee physiological responses is crucial for predicting the overall impact of urbanization on wild bee populations.
