Meta-analysis of honey bee neurogenomic response links deformed wing virus type A to precocious behavioral maturation

Crop pollination by the western honey bee Apis mellifera is vital to agriculture but threatened by alarmingly high levels of colony mortality, especially in Europe and North America. Colony loss is due, in part, to the high viral loads of Deformed wing virus (DWV), transmitted by the ectoparasitic mite Varroa destructor, especially throughout the overwintering period of a honey bee colony. Covert DWV infection is commonplace and has been causally linked to precocious foraging, which itself has been linked to colony loss. Taking advantage of four brain transcriptome studies that unexpectedly revealed evidence of covert DWV-A infection, we set out to explore whether this effect is due to DWV-A mimicking naturally occurring changes in brain gene expression that are associated with behavioral maturation. Consistent with this hypothesis, we found that brain gene expression profiles of DWV-A infected bees resembled those of foragers, even in individuals that were much younger than typical foragers. In addition, brain transcriptional regulatory network analysis revealed a positive association between DWV-A infection and transcription factors previously associated with honey bee foraging behavior. Surprisingly, single-cell RNA-Sequencing implicated glia, not neurons, in this effect; there are relatively few glial cells in the insect brain and they are rarely associated with behavioral plasticity. Covert DWV-A infection also has been linked to impaired learning, which together with precocious foraging can lead to increased occurrence of infected bees from one colony mistakenly entering another colony, especially under crowded modern apiary conditions. These findings provide new insights into the mechanisms by which DWV-A affects honey bee health and colony survival

Spatiotemporal memories in honey bees: microarray analysis of time-trained foragers

Honey bees feed on flowers, many of which produce nectar during certain restricted, but consistent, time windows in the day. Previous research has shown that honey bees have the ability to form distinct spatiotemporal memories that allow them to return repeatedly to different attractive food sources at different times of day. As a first step toward understanding the molecular basis of this striking flower fidelity, this study was designed to determine whether distinct spatiotemporal memories of a food source are associated with distinct patterns of gene expression in the brain. Different groups of foragers from the same colony were trained to collect sucrose solution from an artificial feeder at one of two different times of day, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon. Bees from both training groups were collected at both training times, thus yielding a set of bees that was undergoing stereotypical food anticipatory behavior and another set that was inactive for each collection. Microarray analysis revealed that hundreds of genes were differentially expressed in the brain based on either time of day or activity state. A subset of these genes showed unique patterns of expression for each of the spatiotemporal foraging memories. Surprisingly, some of the genes involved in the regulation of circadian rhythms, such as period and cryptochrome, appear to change in expression with activity state rather than time of day. Overall, these results indicate that distinct spatiotemporal foraging memories in honey bees are associated with distinct neurogenomic states involving genes that regulate temporal activity and genes associated with appetitive behavior

Connecting young learners with the world of emerging science: A design-oriented case study

Numerous models exist for bringing young learners into connection with the work of research scientists in school classrooms and other education-centric settings. However, educational outreach efforts conducted by leading-edge scientific research projects are seldom a focus of educational research. Both challenges and opportunities abound in attempts to bring young learners to an understanding and appreciation of the work of research science. This paper describes an effort by a leading-edge scientific research project in the area of insect behavioral genomics to make its ongoing research activities a source of educational opportunities for young learners. The BeeSpace Project was funded by the Biology Directorate of the National Science Foundation from 2004-2009 to investigate how behaviors of worker honey bees are related to expression of particular genes, and to develop computational resources to assist the genomic researchers in their work. One product of the project’s educational outreach was an eight-hour, video-based online curriculum dubbed “Electronic BeeSpace.” This paper investigates three questions with respect to the educational outreach instance that gave rise to the online curriculum. First, how did that instance come to be? Second, what were its features? Third, how did students learn from it? The circumstances of BeeSpace and its education component are unique, but the lessons to be drawn from them may be of more general interest. In this paper, we make use of a hybrid methodology we call “design-oriented case study,” a mix of qualitative case study (Stake, 1995; Yin, 2009) and educational design research (Kelly, Baek, Lesh, & Bannan-Ritland, 2008). We describe how BeeSpace educational outreach took shape over multiple design episodes, and we present design-based, observational, and interview-based evidence for how a small group of high school students learned from their involvement in one such episode, a weeklong series of workshops conducted in summer, 2008. We draw from the work of John Dewey to explore the nature of students’ learning from such workshops and to consider how design features of the workshop might connect with design principles for meaningful science learning.unpublishedis peer reviewe

Altruistic behavior by egg-laying worker honeybees

If a honeybee (Apis mellifera) colony loses its queen, worker bees develop their ovaries and produce male offspring [1]. Kin selection theory predicts that the degree of altruism in queenless colonies should be reduced because the relatedness of workers to a hivemate's offspring is less in queenless colonies than it is to the daughters of the queen in queenright colonies [2-4]. To explore this hypothesis, we examined the behavior and physiology of queenless egg-laying workers. Queenless bees engaged in both personal reproduction and the social foraging and defense tasks that benefited their colony. Laying workers also had larger brood-food-producing and wax glands, showing metabolic investments in both colony maintenance and personal reproduction. Whereas in queenright colonies there is a very clear age-based pattern of division of labor between workers, in queenless colonies the degree of individual specialization was much reduced. Queenless colonies functioned as a collective of reproductive and behaviorally generalist bees that cooperatively maintained and defended their nest. This social structure is similar to that observed in a number of primitively social bee species [5]. Laying workers therefore show a mix of selfish personal reproduction and altruistic cooperative behavior, and the queenless state reveals previously unrecognized plasticity in honeybee social organization.5 page(s

Physiology of reproductive worker honey bees (Apis mellifera) : insights for the development of the worker caste

Reproductive and behavioural specialisations characterise advanced social insect societies. Typically, the honey bee (Apis mellifera) shows a pronounced reproductive division of labour between worker and queen castes, and a clear division of colony roles among workers. In a queenless condition, however, both of these aspects of social organisation break down. Queenless workers reproduce, forage and maintain their colony operating in a manner similar to communal bees, rather than as an advanced eusocial group. This plasticity in social organisation provides a natural experiment for exploring physiological mechanisms of division of labour. We measured brain biogenic amine (BA) levels and abdominal fat body vitellogenin gene expression levels of workers in queenright and queenless colonies. Age, ovary activation and social environment influenced brain BA levels in honey bees. BA levels were most influenced by ovary activation state in queenless bees. Vitellogenin expression levels were higher in queenless workers than queenright workers, but in both colony environments vitellogenin expression was lower in foragers than non-foragers. We propose this plasticity in the interacting signalling systems that influence both reproductive and behavioural development allows queenless workers to deviate significantly from the typical worker bee reaction norm and develop as reproductively active behavioural generalists.12 page(s

Hepatotoxicity after transarterial chemoembolization and transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt: do two rights make a wrong?

PurposeTo compare the rates of hepatotoxicity after transarterial chemoembolization for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients with and without a transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) who were stratified into comparable risk groups.Materials and methodsA retrospective review of patients with HCC who were treated with transarterial chemoembolization between January 2005 and December 2009 was performed. Of 158 patients with comparable model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) scores, 10 had a patent TIPS. Hepatobiliary severe adverse events (SAEs) occurring after transarterial chemoembolization were documented. In addition, 1-year survival and liver transplantation rate after transarterial chemoembolization were calculated in each group.ResultsThe incidence of hepatobiliary SAEs after transarterial chemoembolization was nearly two times higher in patients with a TIPS (70%) than in patients without a TIPS (36%; P=.046). The liver transplantation rate 1 year after transarterial chemoembolization was 2.5 times higher in patients with a TIPS (80%) than in patients without a TIPS (32%; P=.004). There was no significant difference in 1-year survival between the two groups after transarterial chemoembolization.ConclusionsPatients with HCC and a patent TIPS are more likely to develop significant hepatotoxicity after transarterial chemoembolization than comparable patients without a TIPS in place

Hepatotoxicity after transarterial chemoembolization and transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt: do two rights make a wrong?

PurposeTo compare the rates of hepatotoxicity after transarterial chemoembolization for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients with and without a transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) who were stratified into comparable risk groups.Materials and methodsA retrospective review of patients with HCC who were treated with transarterial chemoembolization between January 2005 and December 2009 was performed. Of 158 patients with comparable model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) scores, 10 had a patent TIPS. Hepatobiliary severe adverse events (SAEs) occurring after transarterial chemoembolization were documented. In addition, 1-year survival and liver transplantation rate after transarterial chemoembolization were calculated in each group.ResultsThe incidence of hepatobiliary SAEs after transarterial chemoembolization was nearly two times higher in patients with a TIPS (70%) than in patients without a TIPS (36%; P=.046). The liver transplantation rate 1 year after transarterial chemoembolization was 2.5 times higher in patients with a TIPS (80%) than in patients without a TIPS (32%; P=.004). There was no significant difference in 1-year survival between the two groups after transarterial chemoembolization.ConclusionsPatients with HCC and a patent TIPS are more likely to develop significant hepatotoxicity after transarterial chemoembolization than comparable patients without a TIPS in place

Preoperative CT-Guided percutaneous wire localization of ground glass pulmonary nodules with a modified Kopans wire.

PurposeTo report a technique of using a modified Kopans wire to localize ground glass pulmonary nodules prior to resection.MethodsCT-guided preoperative localization of ground glass nodules was performed using the modified Kopans wire.ResultsIn both cases, the wire successfully localized the ground glass nodule and the surgeon was able to remove the nodule during video-assisted thoracoscopic wedge resection.ConclusionsPreoperative CT-guided insertion of the modified Kopans wire can result in successful wedge resection of ground glass nodules. The reinforced segment of the modified Kopans wire serves as an excellent source of palpation and localization for the surgeon

Neurogenomic Signatures of Spatiotemporal Memories in Time-Trained Forager Honey Bees

Honey bees can form distinct spatiotemporal memories that allow them to return repeatedly to different food sources at different times of day. Although it is becoming increasingly clear that different behavioral states are associated with different profiles of brain gene expression, it is not known whether this relationship extends to states that are as dynamic and specific as those associated with foraging-related spatiotemporal memories. We tested this hypothesis by training different groups of foragers from the same colony to collect sucrose solution from one of two artificial feeders; each feeder was in a different location and had sucrose available at a different time, either in the morning or afternoon. Bees from both training groups were collected at both the morning and afternoon training times to result in one set of bees that was undergoing stereotypical food anticipatory behavior and another that was inactive for each time of day. Between the two groups with the different spatiotemporal memories, microarray analysis revealed that 1329 genes were differentially expressed in the brains of honey bees. Many of these genes also varied with time of day, time of training or state of food anticipation. Some of these genes are known to be involved in a variety of biological processes, including metabolism and behavior. These results indicate that distinct spatiotemporal foraging memories in honey bees are associated with distinct neurogenomic signatures, and the decomposition of these signatures into sets of genes that are also influenced by time or activity state hints at the modular composition of this complex neurogenomic phenotype

Extracts of Polypore Mushroom Mycelia Reduce Viruses in Honey Bees

Waves of highly infectious viruses sweeping through global honey bee populations have contributed to recent declines in honey bee health. Bees have been observed foraging on mushroom mycelium, suggesting that they may be deriving medicinal or nutritional value from fungi. Fungi are known to produce a wide array of chemicals with antimicrobial activity, including compounds active against bacteria, other fungi, or viruses. We tested extracts from the mycelium of multiple polypore fungal species known to have antiviral properties. Extracts from amadou (Fomes) and reishi (Ganoderma) fungi reduced the levels of honey bee deformed wing virus (DWV) and Lake Sinai virus (LSV) in a dose-dependent manner. In field trials, colonies fed Ganoderma resinaceum extract exhibited a 79-fold reduction in DWV and a 45,000-fold reduction in LSV compared to control colonies. These findings indicate honey bees may gain health benefits from fungi and their antimicrobial compounds