Transcriptional Response of Honey Bee (\u3cem\u3eApis mellifera\u3c/em\u3e) to Differential Nutritional Status and \u3cem\u3eNosema\u3c/em\u3e Infection

Background: Bees are confronting several environmental challenges, including the intermingled effects of malnutrition and disease. Intuitively, pollen is the healthiest nutritional choice, however, commercial substitutes, such as Bee-Pro and MegaBee, are widely used. Herein we examined how feeding natural and artificial diets shapes transcription in the abdomen of the honey bee, and how transcription shifts in combination with Nosema parasitism. Results: Gene ontology enrichment revealed that, compared with poor diet (carbohydrates [C]), bees fed pollen (P \u3e C), Bee-Pro (B \u3e C), and MegaBee (M \u3e C) showed a broad upregulation of metabolic processes, especially lipids; however, pollen feeding promoted more functions, and superior proteolysis. The superiority of the pollen diet was also evident through the remarkable overexpression of vitellogenin in bees fed pollen instead of MegaBee or Bee-Pro. Upregulation of bioprocesses under carbohydrates feeding compared to pollen (C \u3e P) provided a clear poor nutritional status, uncovering stark expression changes that were slight or absent relatively to Bee-Pro (C \u3e B) or MegaBee (C \u3e M). Poor diet feeding (C \u3e P) induced starvation response genes and hippo signaling pathway, while it repressed growth through different mechanisms. Carbohydrate feeding (C \u3e P) also elicited ‘adult behavior’, and developmental processes suggesting transition to foraging. Finally, it altered the ‘circadian rhythm’, reflecting the role of this mechanism in the adaptation to nutritional stress in mammals. Nosema-infected bees fed pollen compared to carbohydrates (PN \u3e CN) upheld certain bioprocesses of uninfected bees (P \u3e C). Poor nutritional status was more apparent against pollen (CN \u3e PN) than Bee-Pro (CN \u3e BN) or MegaBee (CN \u3e MN). Nosema accentuated the effects of malnutrition since more starvation-response genes and stress response mechanisms were upregulated in CN \u3e PN compared to C \u3e P. The bioprocess ‘Macromolecular complex assembly’ was also enriched in CN \u3e PN, and involved genes associated with human HIV and/or influenza, thus providing potential candidates for bee-Nosema interactions. Finally, the enzyme Duox emerged as essential for guts defense in bees, similarly to Drosophila. Conclusions: These results provide evidence of the superior nutritional status of bees fed pollen instead of artificial substitutes in terms of overall health, even in the presence of a pathogen

Are Behavioral Effects of Early Experience Mediated by Oxytocin?

Early experiences can alter adaptive emotional responses necessary for social behavior as well as physiological reactivity in the face of challenge. In the highly social prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster), manipulations in early life or hormonal treatments specifically targeted at the neuropeptides oxytocin (OT) and arginine vasopressin (AVP), have long-lasting, often sexually dimorphic, consequences for social behavior. Here we examine the hypothesis that behavioral changes associated with differential early experience, in this case handling the family during the first week of life, may be mediated by changes in OT or AVP or their brain receptors. Four early treatment groups were used, differing only in the amount of manipulation received during the first week of life. MAN1 animals were handled once on post-natal day 1; MAN1 treatment produces a pattern of behavior usually considered typical of this species, against which other groups were compared. MAN1–7 animals were handled once a day for post-natal days 1–7, MAN 7 animals were handled once on post-natal day 7, and MAN0 animals received no handling during the first week of life. When tested following weaning, males in groups that had received manipulation during the first few days of life (MAN1 and MAN1–7) displayed higher alloparenting than other groups. Neuroendocrine measures, including OT receptor binding and OT and AVP immunoreactivity, varied by early treatment. In brain areas including the nucleus accumbens, bed nucleus of stria terminalis and lateral septum, MAN0 females showed increased OT receptor binding. MAN1 animals also displayed higher numbers of immunoreactive OT cell bodies in the supraoptic nucleus. Taken together these findings support the broader hypothesis that experiences in the first few days of life, mediated in part by sexually dimorphic changes in neuropeptides, especially in the receptor for OT, may have adaptive consequences for sociality and emotion regulation

The African honey bee: Factors contributing to a successful biological invasion

The African honey bee subspecies Apis mellifera scutellata has colonized much of the Americas in less than 50 years and has largely replaced European bees throughout its range in the New World. The African bee therefore provides an excellent opportunity to examine the factors that influence invasion success. We provide a synthesis of recent research on the African bee, concentrating on its ability to displace European honey bees. Specifically, we consider (a) the genetic composition of the expanding population and the symmetry of gene flow between African and European bees, (b) the mechanisms that favor the preservation of the African genome, and (c) the possible range and impact of the African bee in the United States

First‐Generation African American Male College Students: Implications for Career Counselors

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/89568/1/j.2161-0045.2010.tb00179.x.pd

Infant and Young Child Feeding Counseling, Decision-Making, and Practices Among HIV-Infected Women in Malawi’s Option B+ Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission Program: A Mixed Methods Study

This study examined infant and young child feeding (IYCF) counseling, decision-making, and practices among HIV-infected women with children 0–23 months participating in Malawi’s Option B+ prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) program. We conducted 160 survey interviews, 32 in-depth interviews, and 32 observations of PMTCT visits. Surveys indicated that exclusive breastfeeding was common (75%) among children < 6 months, while minimum dietary diversity (41%) and minimum acceptable diet (40%) for children 6–23 months occurred less often. In-depth interviews supported these findings. Most women felt comfortable with current breastfeeding recommendations, but chronic food insecurity made it difficult for them to follow complementary feeding guidelines. Women trusted IYCF advice from health workers, but mainly received it during pregnancy. During observations of postnatal PMTCT visits, health workers infrequently advised on breastfeeding (41% of visits) or complementary feeding (29% of visits). This represents a missed opportunity for health workers to support optimal IYCF practices within Option B+

Emerging Themes from the ESA Symposium Entitled “Pollinator Nutrition: Lessons from Bees at Individual to Landscape Levels”

Pollinator populations are declining (Biesmeijer et al., 2006; Brodschneider et al., 2018; Cameron et al., 2011; Goulson, Lye, & Darvill, 2008; Kulhanek et al., 2017; National Research Council, 2007; Oldroyd, 2007), and both anecdotal and experimental evidence suggest that limited access to high quality forage might play a role (Carvell, Meek, Pywell, Goulson, & Nowakowski, 2007; Deepa et al., 2017; Goulson, Nicholls, Botias, & Rotheray, 2015; Potts et al., 2003, 2010; Vanbergen & The Insect Pollinators Initiative, 2013; Vaudo, Tooker, Grozinger, & Patch, 2015; Woodard, 2017). Multiple researchers are earnestly addressing this topic in a diverse array of insect-pollinator systems. As research continues to be published, increased communication among scientists studying the topic of nutrition is essential for improving pollinator health