Modulation of social interactions by immune stimulation in honey bee workers, Apis mellifera
Immune response pathways have been relatively well-conserved across animal species, with similar systems in both mammals and invertebrates. Interestingly, honey bees have substantially reduced numbers of genes associated with immune function compared to solitary insect species.
However social species such as honey bees provide an excellent environment for pathogen or parasite transmission, with controlled environmental conditions in the hive, high population densities, and frequent interactions. This suggests that honey bees may have developed complementary mechanisms - such as behavioural modifications - to deal with disease.
Results: Here, we demonstrate that activation of the immune system in honey bees (using bacterial lipopolysaccharides, LPS, as a non-replicative pathogen) alters the social responses of healthy nestmates toward the treated individuals.
Furthermore, treated individuals expressed significant differences in overall cuticular hydrocarbon profiles compared to controls. Finally, coating healthy individuals with extracts containing cuticular hydrocarbons of immunostimulated individuals significantly increased the agonistic responses of nestmates.
Conclusion: Since cuticular hydrocarbons play a critical role in nestmate recognition and other social interactions in a wide variety of insect species, modulation of such chemical profiles by the activation of the immune system could play a crucial role in the social regulation of pathogen dissemination within the colony.
Author: Freddie-Jeanne Richard, Arnaud Aubert and Christina Grozinger
Credits/Source: BMC Biology 2008, 6:50
Published on: 2008-11-17
Copyright by the authors listed above - made available via BioMedCentral (Open Access). Please
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