Identification of Immune Regulatory Genes in <i>Apis mellifera</i> through Caffeine Treatment
Plants and pollinators are mutually beneficial: plants provide nectar as a food source and in return their pollen is disseminated by pollinators such as honeybees. Some plants secrete chemicals to deter herbivores as a protective measure, among which is caffeine, a naturally occurring, bitter tastin...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2020-08-01
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| Series: | Insects |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/11/8/516 |
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| author | Yun-Heng Lu Carol-P Wu Cheng-Kang Tang Yu-Hsien Lin Houda Ouns Maaroufi Yi-Chi Chuang Yueh-Lung Wu |
| author_facet | Yun-Heng Lu Carol-P Wu Cheng-Kang Tang Yu-Hsien Lin Houda Ouns Maaroufi Yi-Chi Chuang Yueh-Lung Wu |
| author_sort | Yun-Heng Lu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Plants and pollinators are mutually beneficial: plants provide nectar as a food source and in return their pollen is disseminated by pollinators such as honeybees. Some plants secrete chemicals to deter herbivores as a protective measure, among which is caffeine, a naturally occurring, bitter tasting, and pharmacologically active secondary compound. It can be found in low concentrations in the nectars of some plants and as such, when pollinators consume nectar, they also take in small amounts of caffeine. Whilst caffeine has been indicated as an antioxidant in both mammals and insects, the effect on insect immunity is unclear. In the present study, honeybees were treated with caffeine and the expression profiles of genes involved in immune responses were measured to evaluate the influence of caffeine on immunity. In addition, honeybees were infected with deformed wing virus (DWV) to study how caffeine affects their response against pathogens. Our results showed that caffeine can increase the expression of genes involved in immunity and reduce virus copy numbers, indicating that it has the potential to help honeybees fight against viral infection. The present study provides a valuable insight into the mechanism by which honeybees react to biotic stress and how caffeine can serve as a positive contributor, thus having a potential application in beekeeping. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T17:41:48Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-75adf6957f004234b091305f17e3c525 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2075-4450 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T17:41:48Z |
| publishDate | 2020-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Insects |
| spelling | doaj.art-75adf6957f004234b091305f17e3c5252023-11-20T09:40:45ZengMDPI AGInsects2075-44502020-08-0111851610.3390/insects11080516Identification of Immune Regulatory Genes in <i>Apis mellifera</i> through Caffeine TreatmentYun-Heng Lu0Carol-P Wu1Cheng-Kang Tang2Yu-Hsien Lin3Houda Ouns Maaroufi4Yi-Chi Chuang5Yueh-Lung Wu6Department of Entomology, National Taiwan University, Taipei 106, TaiwanDepartment of Entomology, National Taiwan University, Taipei 106, TaiwanDepartment of Entomology, National Taiwan University, Taipei 106, TaiwanDepartment of Plant Physiology, Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, University of Amsterdam, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The NetherlandsBiology Centre of the Czech Academy of Science, Institute of Entomology, 37005 Ceske Budejovice, Czech RepublicDepartment of Entomology, National Taiwan University, Taipei 106, TaiwanDepartment of Entomology, National Taiwan University, Taipei 106, TaiwanPlants and pollinators are mutually beneficial: plants provide nectar as a food source and in return their pollen is disseminated by pollinators such as honeybees. Some plants secrete chemicals to deter herbivores as a protective measure, among which is caffeine, a naturally occurring, bitter tasting, and pharmacologically active secondary compound. It can be found in low concentrations in the nectars of some plants and as such, when pollinators consume nectar, they also take in small amounts of caffeine. Whilst caffeine has been indicated as an antioxidant in both mammals and insects, the effect on insect immunity is unclear. In the present study, honeybees were treated with caffeine and the expression profiles of genes involved in immune responses were measured to evaluate the influence of caffeine on immunity. In addition, honeybees were infected with deformed wing virus (DWV) to study how caffeine affects their response against pathogens. Our results showed that caffeine can increase the expression of genes involved in immunity and reduce virus copy numbers, indicating that it has the potential to help honeybees fight against viral infection. The present study provides a valuable insight into the mechanism by which honeybees react to biotic stress and how caffeine can serve as a positive contributor, thus having a potential application in beekeeping.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/11/8/516honeybeedeformed wing virus (DWV)caffeineimmune gene |
| spellingShingle | Yun-Heng Lu Carol-P Wu Cheng-Kang Tang Yu-Hsien Lin Houda Ouns Maaroufi Yi-Chi Chuang Yueh-Lung Wu Identification of Immune Regulatory Genes in <i>Apis mellifera</i> through Caffeine Treatment Insects honeybee deformed wing virus (DWV) caffeine immune gene |
| title | Identification of Immune Regulatory Genes in <i>Apis mellifera</i> through Caffeine Treatment |
| title_full | Identification of Immune Regulatory Genes in <i>Apis mellifera</i> through Caffeine Treatment |
| title_fullStr | Identification of Immune Regulatory Genes in <i>Apis mellifera</i> through Caffeine Treatment |
| title_full_unstemmed | Identification of Immune Regulatory Genes in <i>Apis mellifera</i> through Caffeine Treatment |
| title_short | Identification of Immune Regulatory Genes in <i>Apis mellifera</i> through Caffeine Treatment |
| title_sort | identification of immune regulatory genes in i apis mellifera i through caffeine treatment |
| topic | honeybee deformed wing virus (DWV) caffeine immune gene |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/11/8/516 |
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