Publications
| Title | Abstract | Year Filter | PMID(sorted descending) Filter |
|---|
| differential expression pattern of vago in bumblebee (bombus terrestris), induced by virulent and avirulent virus infections. | viruses are one of the main drivers of the decline of domesticated and wild bees but the mechanisms of antiviral immunity in pollinators are poorly understood. recent work has suggested that next to the small interfering rna (sirna) pathway other immune-related pathways play a role in the defense of the bee hosts against viral infection. in addition, vago plays a role in the cross-talk between the innate immune pathways in culex mosquito cells. here we describe the vago orthologue in bumblebees ... | 2016 | 27680717 |
| omalizumab: a useful tool for inducing tolerance to bee venom immunotherapy. | 2016 | 27679679 | |
| large-scale monitoring of effects of clothianidin dressed oilseed rape seeds on pollinating insects in northern germany: implementation of the monitoring project and its representativeness. | monitoring studies at the landscape level are complex, expensive and difficult to conduct. many aspects have to be considered to avoid confounding effects which is probably the reason why they are not regularly performed in the context of risk assessments of plant protection products to pollinating insects. however, if conducted appropriately their contribution is most valuable. in this paper we identify the requirements of a large-scale monitoring study for the assessment of side-effects of clo ... | 2016 | 27678527 |
| large-scale monitoring of effects of clothianidin-dressed osr seeds on pollinating insects in northern germany: effects on large earth bumble bees (bombus terrestris). | the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of elado(®)-dressed winter oilseed rape (osr, 10 g clothianidin & 2 g beta-cyfluthrin/kg seed) on the development, reproduction and behaviour of large earth bumble bees (bombus terrestris) as part of a large-scale monitoring field study in northern germany, where osr is usually cultivated at 25-33 % of the arable land. both reference and test sites comprised 65 km(2) in which no other crops attractive to pollinating insects were present. six s ... | 2016 | 27678526 |
| competitive males have higher quality sperm in a monogamous social bee. | reproductive success is determined by the interplay between mating and fertilization success. in social insect species with male-biased sex ratios and queen monogamy, males face particularly strong pre-copulatory sexual selection since they must compete with thousands of other males for a unique mating opportunity. ejaculate quality is also expected to be under selection, because queens are long-lived and store sperm for life, so males with higher quality ejaculates are expected to provide queen ... | 2016 | 27677838 |
| application of bee venom and its main constituent melittin for cancer treatment. | bee venom and its main constituent melittin (mel) have been extensively studied in the treatment of tumors. however, the non-specific cytotoxicity and hemolytic activity have hampered the clinical application. currently, a number of research groups have reported a series of optimization strategies, including gene therapy, recombinant immunotoxin incorporating mel or mel nanoparticles, targeting tumor cells to attenuate the cytotoxicity and improve its antitumor efficiency and therapeutic capabil ... | 2016 | 27677623 |
| dna barcoding as a useful tool in the systematic study of wild bees of the tribe augochlorini (hymenoptera: halictidae). | special care is needed in the delimitation and identification of halictid bee species, which are renowned for being morphologically monotonous. corynura spinola and halictillus moure (halictidae: augochlorini) contain species that are key elements in southern south american ecosystems. these bees are very difficult to identify due to close morphological similarity among species and high sexual dimorphism. we analyzed 170 barcode-compliant coi sequences from 19 species. dna barcodes were useful t ... | 2016 | 27673501 |
| dna methylation adjusts the specificity of memories depending on the learning context and promotes relearning in honeybees. | the activity of the epigenetic writers dna methyltransferases (dnmts) after olfactory reward conditioning is important for both stimulus-specific long-term memory (ltm) formation and extinction. it, however, remains unknown which components of memory formation dnmts regulate (e.g., associative vs. non-associative) and in what context (e.g., varying training conditions). here, we address these aspects in order to clarify the role of dnmt-mediated dna methylation in memory formation. we used a pha ... | 2016 | 27672359 |
| bt cry1ie toxin does not impact the survival and pollen consumption of chinese honey bees, apis cerana cerana (hymenoptera, apidae). | the cry1ie gene may be a good candidate for the development of bt maize because over-expression of cry1ie is highly toxic to lepidopteran pests such as heliothis armigera hübner and ostrinia furnacalis guenée. the bt cry1ie gene also has no cross resistance with other insecticidal proteins such as cry1ab, cry1ac, cry1ah, or cry1f. chinese honey bees (apis cerana cerana) are potentially exposed to insect-resistant genetically modified (irgm) crops expressing cry1ie toxin via the collection of irg ... | 2016 | 27670271 |
| protective effects of intratracheally-administered bee venom phospholipase a2 on ovalbumin-induced allergic asthma in mice. | asthma is a common chronic disease characterized by bronchial inflammation, reversible airway obstruction, and airway hyperresponsiveness (ahr). current therapeutic options for the management of asthma include inhaled corticosteroids and β2 agonists, which elicit harmful side effects. in the present study, we examined the capacity of phospholipase a2 (pla2), one of the major components of bee venom (bv), to reduce airway inflammation and improve lung function in an experimental model of asthma. ... | 2016 | 27669297 |
| lipid-specific t cells and the skin. | langerhans cells express constitutively high levels of cd1a, a member of the cd1 family of molecules which are known to present lipid antigens to t cells. whilst much human skin immunology research has focussed on the function of t cells which recognise peptides presented by hla molecules, in contrast few studies have addressed the role of cd1a and lipid antigens in the pathogenesis of inflammatory skin disease. house dust mite and bee and wasp venom extracts were found to generate cd1a reactivi ... | 2016 | 27667311 |
| one-step purification of melittin derived from apis mellifera bee venom. | the concern of the use of melittin in honey bee venom due to its adverse reaction caused by allergens such as phospholipase a2 (pla₂) and hyaluronidase (hya) has been an obstacle towards its usage. we developed a novel single-step method for melittin purification and the removal of pla₂ and hya. this study explores the influence of ph, buffer compositions, salt concentration and types of cation-exchange chromatography resins on the recovery of melittin and the removal of both hya and pla₂. melit ... | 2016 | 27666985 |
| royal jelly: an ancient remedy with remarkable antibacterial properties. | royal jelly (rj), a honeybee hypopharyngeal gland secretion of young nurse and an exclusive nourishment for bee queen, has been used since ancient times for care and human health and it is still very important in traditional and folkloristic medicine, especially in asia within the apitherapy. recently, rj and its protein and lipid components have been subjected to several investigations on their antimicrobial activity due to extensive traditional uses and for a future application in medicine. an ... | 2016 | 27664731 |
| application of analytical methods in authentication and adulteration of honey. | honey is synthesized from flower nectar and it is famous for its tremendous therapeutic potential since ancient times. many factors influence the basic properties of honey including the nectar-providing plant species, bee species, geographic area, and harvesting conditions. quality and composition of honey is also affected by many other factors, such as overfeeding of bees with sucrose, harvesting prior to maturity, and adulteration with sugar syrups. due to the complex nature of honey, it is of ... | 2017 | 27664687 |
| the wide distribution and change of target specificity of r2 non-ltr retrotransposons in animals. | transposons, or transposable elements, are the major components of genomes in most eukaryotes. some groups of transposons have developed target specificity that limits the integration sites to a specific nonessential sequence or a genomic region to avoid gene disruption caused by insertion into an essential gene. r2 is one of the most intensively investigated groups of sequence-specific non-ltr retrotransposons and is inserted at a specific site inside of 28s ribosomal rna (rrna) genes. r2 is kn ... | 2017 | 27662593 |
| beekeeping practices and geographic distance, not land use, drive gene flow across tropical bees. | across the globe, wild bees are threatened by ongoing natural habitat loss, risking the maintenance of plant biodiversity and agricultural production. despite the ecological and economic importance of wild bees and the fact that several species are now managed for pollination services worldwide, little is known about how land use and beekeeping practices jointly influence gene flow. using stingless bees as a model system, containing wild and managed species that are presumed to be particularly s ... | 2016 | 27662098 |
| adult pollen diet essential for egg maturation by a solitary osmia bee. | reproduction is a nutritionally costly activity for many insects, as their eggs are rich in lipids and proteins. that cost seems especially acute for non-social bees, which for their size, lay enormous eggs. all adult female bees visit flowers, most of them to collect pollen and nectar, or sometimes oils, to feed their progeny. for adult bees, the need for pollen feeding has only been detailed for the honey bee, apis mellifera. to experimentally test for the reproductive value of adult pollen fe ... | 2016 | 27659135 |
| toward an understanding of divergent compound eye development in drones and workers of the honeybee (apis mellifera l.): a correlative analysis of morphology and gene expression. | eye development in insects is best understood in drosophila melanogaster, but little is known for other holometabolous insects. combining a morphological with a gene expression analysis, we investigated eye development in the honeybee, putting emphasis on the sex-specific differences in eye size. optic lobe development starts from an optic lobe anlage in the larval brain, which sequentially gives rise to the lobula, medulla, and lamina. the lamina differentiates in the last larval instar, when i ... | 2017 | 27658924 |
| colony level prevalence and intensity of nosema ceranae in honey bees (apis mellifera l.). | nosema ceranae is a widely prevalent microsporidian parasite in the western honey bee. there is considerable uncertainty regarding infection dynamics of this important pathogen in honey bee colonies. understanding the infection dynamics at the colony level may aid in development of a reliable sampling protocol for n. ceranae diagnosis, and provide insights into efficient treatment strategies. the primary objective of this study was to characterize the prevalence (proportion of the sampled bees f ... | 2017 | 27658258 |
| total bee dependence on one flower species despite available congeners of similar floral shape. | extreme specialization is a common phenomenon in antagonistic biotic interactions but it is quite rare in mutualistic ones. indeed, bee specialization on a single flower species (monolecty) is a questioned fact. here, we provide multiple lines of evidence on true monolecty in a solitary bee (flavipanurgus venustus, andrenidae), which is consistent across space (18 sites in sw iberian peninsula) and time (three years) despite the presence of closely related congeneric plant species whose flowers ... | 2017 | 27658205 |
| gram-positive bacteria with probiotic potential for the apis mellifera l. honey bee: the experience in the northwest of argentina. | apis mellifera l. is one of the most important natural pollinators of significant crops and flowers around the world. it can be affected by different types of illnesses: american foulbrood, nosemosis, varroasis, viruses, among others. such infections mainly cause a reduction in honey production and in extreme situations, the death of the colony. argentina is the world's second largest honey exporter and the third largest honey producer, after china and turkey. given both the prominence of the ho ... | 2017 | 27655068 |
| hybrid pareto artificial bee colony algorithm for multi-objective single machine group scheduling problem with sequence-dependent setup times and learning effects. | group scheduling is significant for efficient and cost effective production system. however, there exist setup times between the groups, which require to decrease it by sequencing groups in an efficient way. current research is focused on a sequence dependent group scheduling problem with an aim to minimize the makespan in addition to minimize the total weighted tardiness simultaneously. in most of the production scheduling problems, the processing time of jobs is assumed as fixed. however, the ... | 2016 | 27652166 |
| bee fauna and floral abundance within lawn-dominated suburban yards in springfield, ma. | private yards comprise a significant component of urban lands, with managed lawns representing the dominant land cover. lawns blanket > 163,000 km(2) of the united states, and 50% of urban and suburban areas. when not treated with herbicides, lawns have the capacity to support a diversity of spontaneous (e.g., not planted) flowers, with the potential to provide nectar and pollen resources for pollinators such as native bees. in order to determine the extent to which suburban lawns support these ... | 2016 | 27651546 |
| large-scale monitoring of effects of clothianidin-dressed oilseed rape seeds on pollinating insects in northern germany: residues of clothianidin in pollen, nectar and honey. | this study was part of a large-scale monitoring project to assess the possible effects of elado(®) (10 g clothianidin & 2 g β-cyfluthrin/kg seed)-dressed oilseed rape seeds on different pollinators in northern germany. firstly, residues of clothianidin and its active metabolites thiazolylnitroguanidine and thiazolylmethylurea were measured in nectar and pollen from elado(®)-dressed (test site, t) and undressed (reference site, r) oilseed rape collected by honey bees confined within tunnel tents. ... | 2016 | 27650369 |
| large-scale monitoring of effects of clothianidin-dressed oilseed rape seeds on pollinating insects in northern germany: effects on honey bees (apis mellifera). | possible effects of clothianidin seed-treated oilseed rape on honey bee colonies were investigated in a large-scale monitoring project in northern germany, where oilseed rape usually comprises 25-33 % of the arable land. for both reference and test sites, six study locations were selected and eight honey bee hives were placed at each location. at each site, three locations were directly adjacent to oilseed rape fields and three locations were situated 400 m away from the nearest oilseed rape fie ... | 2016 | 27644949 |
| ethnomedicinal uses of honeybee products in lithuania: the first analysis of archival sources. | lithuania has old ethnomedicine traditions, consisting of many recipes with herbal, animal, and mineral original ingredients. all these findings were mostly collected in lithuanian language, often in local community's dialects, and stored only in archives. we analyzed archival sources about honeybee and its products used for medicinal purposes dated from 1886 till 1992 in different parts of lithuania. we systematized and presented the most important information about bees and their products: ind ... | 2016 | 27642360 |
| metabolism of fructophilic lactic acid bacteria isolated from apis mellifera l. bee-gut: a focus on the phenolic acids as external electron acceptors. | fructophilic lactic acid bacteria (flab) are strongly associated to the gastrointestinal tract (git) of apis mellifera l. worker bees due to the consumption of fructose as a major carbohydrate. seventy-seven presumptive lactic acid bacteria (lab) were isolated from git of healthy a. mellifera l. adults, which were collected from 5 different geographical locations of apulia region (italy). almost all the isolates showed fructophilic tendencies, which were identified as lactobacillus kunkeei (69%) ... | 2016 | 27637884 |
| diversity and resource use patterns of anthophile insects in cuatro ciénegas, coahuila, mexico. | bees and flies are the main pollinators responsible for the maintenance of plant diversity and crop production. studies of pollinator communities have focused on bees; however, community structures may vary among groups of pollinators. we describe and compare the diversity and resource use patterns of six apoidea and two diptera anthophile families in cuatro ciénegas in the northeast of mexico. we sampled insects in two distinct geographic units (valley and mountains) and two seasons (rainy and ... | 2016 | 27634784 |
| glucansucrases produced by fructophilic lactic acid bacteria lactobacillus kunkeei h3 and h25 isolated from honeybees. | twenty fructophilic isolates from the stomachs of honeybee apis mellifera ligustica from the region of plovdiv, bulgaria were obtained. fructophilic isolates h3 and h25 showed formation of mucous colonies during cultivation on medium with sucrose, suggesting exopolysaccharide synthesis. the sequencing analysis of 16s rrna identified isolates h3 and h25 as fructophilic lactic acid bacteria lactobacillus kunkeei. the in situ analysis and periodic acid-schiff's staining, showed that lb. kunkeei h3 ... | 2017 | 27633178 |
| topochemistry, optical anisotropy and ft-ir microspectroscopy of the cocoon of lithurgus chrysurus (hymenoptera, megachilidae). | a previous study has not revealed the participation of a mucous component in the cocoon wall of the solitary bee, lithurgus chrysurus, differing from the cocoon structure reported for many other bee species. however, uncertainty remains, because only the median and rear zones of this cocoon type have thus far been analyzed. here, we studied the front zone of this cocoon, searching its components and their organization, to fill this knowledge gap. topochemical assays, polarization microscopy and ... | 2016 | 27632071 |
| variations in the availability of pollen resources affect honey bee health. | intensive agricultural systems often expose honey bees (apis mellifera l.) to large temporal variations in the availability (quantity, quality and diversity) of nutritional resources. such nutritional irregularity is expected to affect honey bee health. we therefore tested under laboratory conditions the effect of such variation in pollen availability on honey bee health (survival and nursing physiology-hypopharyngeal gland development and vitellogenin expression). we fed honey bees with differe ... | 2016 | 27631605 |
| a heterogeneous landscape does not guarantee high crop pollination. | the expansion of pollinator-dependent crops, especially in the developing world, together with reports of worldwide pollinator declines, raises concern of possible yield gaps. farmers directly reliant on pollination services for food supply often live in regions where our knowledge of pollination services is poor. in a manipulative experiment replicated at 23 sites across an ethiopian agricultural landscape, we found poor pollination services and severe pollen limitation in a common oil crop. wi ... | 2016 | 27629036 |
| operant conditioning in honey bees (apis mellifera l.): the cap pushing response. | the honey bee has been an important model organism for studying learning and memory. more recently, the honey bee has become a valuable model to understand perception and cognition. however, the techniques used to explore psychological phenomena in honey bees have been limited to only a few primary methodologies such as the proboscis extension reflex, sting extension reflex, and free flying target discrimination-tasks. methods to explore operant conditioning in bees and other invertebrates are n ... | 2016 | 27626797 |
| virulence differences among melissococcus plutonius strains with different genetic backgrounds in apis mellifera larvae under an improved experimental condition. | european foulbrood (efb) caused by melissococcus plutonius is an important bacterial disease of honeybee larvae. m. plutonius strains can be grouped into three genetically distinct groups (cc3, cc12 and cc13). because efb could not be reproduced in artificially reared honeybee larvae by fastidious strains of cc3 and cc13 previously, we investigated a method to improve experimental conditions using a cc3 strain and found that infection with a potassium-rich diet enhanced proliferation of the fast ... | 2016 | 27625313 |
| the city as a refuge for insect pollinators. | research on urban insect pollinators is changing views on the biological value and ecological importance of cities. the abundance and diversity of native bee species in urban landscapes that are absent in nearby rural lands evidence the biological value and ecological importance of cities and have implications for biodiversity conservation. lagging behind this revised image of the city are urban conservation programs that historically have invested in education and outreach rather than programs ... | 2017 | 27624925 |
| questioning public perception, conservation policy, and recovery actions for honeybees in north america. | global pollinator declines have resulted in an increasing number of policies and actions to help bee populations. in north america, there is strong public engagement, but also growing controversies over how to address declines. this is fueled by complex scientific evidence across species, habitat types, geographic regions, as well as intense lobbying by ngos, beekeeping, agro-chemical and farming industries. policy and conservation initiatives often focus on the western honeybee, apis mellifera ... | 2016 | 27624856 |
| a new bee species that excavates sandstone nests. | humanity has long been fascinated by animals with apparently unfavorable lifestyles [1]. nesting habits are especially important because they can limit where organisms live, thereby driving population, community, and even ecosystem dynamics [2]. the question arises, then, why bees nest in active termite mounds [3] or on the rim of degassing volcanoes, seemingly preferring such hardship [4]. here, we present a new bee species that excavates sandstone nests, anthophora (anthophoroides) pueblo orr ... | 2016 | 27623257 |
| the protective effect of melittin on renal fibrosis in an animal model of unilateral ureteral obstruction. | renal fibrosis is the principal pathological process underlying the progression of chronic kidney disease that leads to end-stage renal disease. melittin is a major component of bee venom, and it has anti-bacterial, anti-viral, and anti-inflammatory properties in various cell types. thus, this study examined the therapeutic effects of melittin on the progression of renal fibrosis using the unilateral ureteral obstruction (uuo) model. in addition, the effects of melittin on inflammation and fibro ... | 2016 | 27618890 |
| fuzzy sets in dynamic adaptation of parameters of a bee colony optimization for controlling the trajectory of an autonomous mobile robot. | a hybrid approach composed by different types of fuzzy systems, such as the type-1 fuzzy logic system (t1fls), interval type-2 fuzzy logic system (it2fls) and generalized type-2 fuzzy logic system (gt2fls) for the dynamic adaptation of the alpha and beta parameters of a bee colony optimization (bco) algorithm is presented. the objective of the work is to focus on the bco technique to find the optimal distribution of the membership functions in the design of fuzzy controllers. we use bco specific ... | 2016 | 27618062 |
| fungal planet description sheets: 400-468. | novel species of fungi described in the present study include the following from australia: vermiculariopsiella eucalypti, mulderomyces natalis (incl. mulderomyces gen. nov.), fusicladium paraamoenum, neotrimmatostroma paraexcentricum, and pseudophloeospora eucalyptorum on leaves of eucalyptus spp., anungitea grevilleae (on leaves of grevillea sp.), pyrenochaeta acaciae (on leaves of acacia sp.), and brunneocarpos banksiae (incl. brunneocarpos gen. nov.) on cones of banksia attenuata. novel foli ... | 2016 | 27616795 |
| taxonomic note on the oil-collecting bee centris dimidiata (olivier, 1789 (hymenoptera: apidae: centridini). | centris dimidiata (olivier) is currently considered an easily recognizable species widely distributed throughout the amazon basin, mainly in brazil. for much of its taxonomic history, c. atriventris mocsáry and c. furcata (fabricius) have been considered its junior subjective synonymies. such interpretation was apparently due to the lack of a detailed study of the type specimens, misinterpretation of the original descriptions, and inability to study the apparently lost type specimen of c. dimidi ... | 2016 | 27615988 |
| the bees (hymenoptera: apoidea) of the maltese islands. | this study presents the first checklist of the bees of the maltese islands and includes notes on the distribution of each species. a total of 95 species belonging to five bee families are recorded: andrenidae (17 species), apidae (34 species), colletidae (6 species), halictidae (15 species) and megachilidae (23 species). lasioglossum callizonium (pérez, 1896) is recorded for the first time from the maltese islands. records of three previously reported species are listed as dubious. the bee fauna ... | 2016 | 27615971 |
| bee (hymenoptera: apoidea) and hoverfly (diptera: syrphidae) pollinators in pannonian habitats of serbia, with a description of a new eumerus meigen species (syrphidae). | the diversity of bee (hymenoptera: apoidea) and hoverfly (diptera: syrphidae) pollinators from ten localities in vojvodina, serbia was surveyed. among different types of pannonian habitat (grasslands, heathland and scrub, woodland and forest habitats) all localities were categorised as forest and steppe. they were in protected areas, mostly undisturbed by human activity. censuses of pollinators took place from 30 march to 10 october, 2014. we recorded 218 pollinator species; 135 bee species (42 ... | 2016 | 27615823 |
| optimal search patterns in honeybee orientation flights are robust against emerging infectious diseases. | lévy flights are scale-free (fractal) search patterns found in a wide range of animals. they can be an advantageous strategy promoting high encounter rates with rare cues that may indicate prey items, mating partners or navigational landmarks. the robustness of this behavioural strategy to ubiquitous threats to animal performance, such as pathogens, remains poorly understood. using honeybees radar-tracked during their orientation flights in a novel landscape, we assess for the first time how two ... | 2016 | 27615605 |
| inter-individual variation in nutrient balancing in the honeybee (apis mellifera). | the geometric framework approach in nutritional ecology postulates that animals attempt to balance the consumption of different nutrients rather than simply maximizing energetic gain. the intake target with respect to each nutrient maximizes fitness in a specific dimension and any difference between individuals in intake target therefore represents alternative behavioral and fitness maximization strategies. nutritional interactions are a central component of all social groups and any inter-indiv ... | 2016 | 27614177 |
| silencing the honey bee (apis mellifera) naked cuticle gene (nkd) improves host immune function and reduces nosema ceranae infections. | nosema ceranae is a new and emerging microsporidian parasite of european honey bees, apis mellifera, that has been implicated in colony losses worldwide. rna interference (rnai), a posttranscriptional gene silencing mechanism, has emerged as a potent and specific strategy for controlling infections of parasites and pathogens in honey bees. while previous studies have focused on the silencing of parasite/pathogen virulence factors, we explore here the possibility of silencing a host factor as a m ... | 2016 | 27613683 |
| honey bee swarms aboard the usns comfort: recommendations for sting prevention, swarm removal, and medical readiness on military ships. | the article provides observations of multiple honey bee (apis mellifera) swarms aboard the usns comfort (tah-20) during the continuing promise 2015 mission. a brief overview of swarming biology is given along with control/removal recommendations to reduce sting exposures. the observations suggest that preventive medicine personnel should provide adequate risk communications about the potential occurrence of bee swarms aboard military ships, and medical department personnel should be prepared for ... | 2016 | 27613207 |
| severe hypotension, hypoxia, and subcutaneous erythema induced by indigo carmine administration during open prostatectomy. | indigo carmine (also known as 5,5'-indigodisulfonic acid sodium salt or indigotine) is a blue dye that is administered intravenously to examine the urinary tract and usually is biologically safe and inert. indigo carmine rarely may cause adverse reactions. we treated a 66-year-old man who had general anesthesia and radical retropubic prostatectomy for prostate cancer. he had a previous history of allergy to bee sting with nausea, vomiting, and dizziness. within 1 minute after injection of indigo ... | 2016 | 27610263 |
| neurochemical factors associated with the antidepressant-like effect of flavonoid chrysin in chronically stressed mice. | chrysin is a flavonoid which is found in bee propolis, honey and various plants. antidepressant-like effect of chrysin in chronically stressed mice was previously demonstrated by our group. conversely, neurochemical factors associated with this effect require further investigations. thus, we investigated the possible involvement of pro-inflammatory cytokines, kynurenine pathway (kp), 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-ht) metabolism and caspases activities in the effect of chrysin in mice exposed to unpredi ... | 2016 | 27609609 |
| deformed wing virus can be transmitted during natural mating in honey bees and infect the queens. | deformed wing virus is an important contributor to honey bee colony losses. frequently queen failure is reported as a cause for colony loss. here we examine whether sexual transmission during multiple matings of queens is a possible way of virus infection in queens. in an environment with high prevalence of deformed wing virus, queens (n = 30) were trapped upon their return from natural mating flights. the last drone's endophallus (n = 29), if present, was removed from the mated queens for defor ... | 2016 | 27608961 |
| evaluating a filtering and recirculating system to reduce dust drift in simulated sowing of dressed seed and abraded dust particle characteristics. | the pneumatic precision drills used in maize sowing can release dust owing to abrasion of dressed seed; the drift of dust containing insecticide active ingredients is harmful to honey bees. therefore, we developed a device for drills that uses partial recirculation and filtration of the air by means of an antipollen and an electrostatic filter. | 2016 | 27607021 |
| go east for better honey bee health: apis cerana is faster at hygienic behavior than a. mellifera. | the poor health status of the western honey bee, apis mellifera, compared to its eastern counterpart, apis cerana, is remarkable. this has been attributed to lower pathogen prevalence in a. cerana colonies and to their ability to survive infestations with the ectoparasitic mite, varroa destructor. these properties have been linked to an enhanced removal of dead or unhealthy immature bees by adult workers in this species. although such hygienic behavior is known to contribute to honey bee colony ... | 2016 | 27606819 |
| correction: bee venom for the treatment of parkinson disease - a randomized controlled clinical trial. | [this corrects the article doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0158235.]. | 2017 | 27606465 |
| an energetics-based honeybee nectar-foraging model used to assess the potential for landscape-level pesticide exposure dilution. | estimating the exposure of honeybees to pesticides on a landscape scale requires models of their spatial foraging behaviour. for this purpose, we developed a mechanistic, energetics-based model for a single day of nectar foraging in complex landscape mosaics. net energetic efficiency determined resource patch choice. in one version of the model a single optimal patch was selected each hour. in another version, recruitment of foragers was simulated and several patches could be exploited simultane ... | 2016 | 27602273 |
| niche partitioning due to adaptive foraging reverses effects of nestedness and connectance on pollination network stability. | much research debates whether properties of ecological networks such as nestedness and connectance stabilise biological communities while ignoring key behavioural aspects of organisms within these networks. here, we computationally assess how adaptive foraging (af) behaviour interacts with network architecture to determine the stability of plant-pollinator networks. we find that af reverses negative effects of nestedness and positive effects of connectance on the stability of the networks by par ... | 2016 | 27600659 |
| the genome of nosema sp. isolate ynpr: a comparative analysis of genome evolution within the nosema/vairimorpha clade. | the microsporidian parasite designated here as nosema sp. isolate ynpr was isolated from the cabbage butterfly pieris rapae collected in honghe prefecture, yunnan province, china. the genome was sequenced by illumina sequencing and compared to those of two related members of the nosema/vairimorpha clade, nosema ceranae and nosema apis. based upon assembly statistics, the nosema sp. ynpr genome is 3.36 x 106bp with a g+c content of 23.18% and 2,075 protein coding sequences. an "accctt" motif is p ... | 2016 | 27598992 |
| opportunities for biodiversity gains under the world's largest reforestation programme. | reforestation is a critical means of addressing the environmental and social problems of deforestation. china's grain-for-green program (gfgp) is the world's largest reforestation scheme. here we provide the first nationwide assessment of the tree composition of gfgp forests and the first combined ecological and economic study aimed at understanding gfgp's biodiversity implications. across china, gfgp forests are overwhelmingly monocultures or compositionally simple mixed forests. focusing on bi ... | 2016 | 27598524 |
| identification of dietetically absorbed rapeseed (brassica campestris l.) bee pollen micrornas in serum of mice. | micrornas (mirnas) are a class of small noncoding rna that, through mediating posttranscriptional gene regulation, play a critical role in nearly all biological processes. over the last decade it has become apparent that plant mirnas may serve as a novel functional component of food with therapeutic effects including anti-influenza and antitumor. rapeseed bee pollen has good properties in enhancing immune function as well as preventing and treating disease. in this study, we identified the exoge ... | 2016 | 27597967 |
| flowers and wild megachilid bees share microbes. | transmission pathways have fundamental influence on microbial symbiont persistence and evolution. for example, the core gut microbiome of honey bees is transmitted socially and via hive surfaces, but some non-core bacteria associated with honey bees are also found on flowers, and these bacteria may therefore be transmitted indirectly between bees via flowers. here, we test whether multiple flower and wild megachilid bee species share microbes, which would suggest that flowers may act as hubs of ... | 2017 | 27592345 |
| insect sting reactions and specific ige to venom and major allergens in a general population. | insect sting reactions are frequently reported, but population studies documenting the frequency and the relation to ige-sensitization and serum tryptase are scarce. | 2016 | 27591992 |
| the answer is blowing in the wind: free-flying honeybees can integrate visual and mechano-sensory inputs for making complex foraging decisions. | bees navigate in complex environments using visual, olfactory and mechano-sensorial cues. in the lowest region of the atmosphere, the wind environment can be highly unsteady and bees employ fine motor-skills to enhance flight control. recent work reveals sophisticated multi-modal processing of visual and olfactory channels by the bee brain to enhance foraging efficiency, but it currently remains unclear whether wind-induced mechano-sensory inputs are also integrated with visual information to fa ... | 2016 | 27591315 |
| the core gut microbiome of the american cockroach, periplaneta americana, is stable and resilient to dietary shifts. | the omnivorous cockroach periplaneta americana hosts a diverse hindgut microbiota encompassing hundreds of microbial species. in this study, we used 16s rrna gene sequencing to examine the effect of diet on the composition of the p. americana hindgut microbial community. results show that the hindgut microbiota of p. americana exhibit a highly stable core microbial community with low variance in compositions between individuals and minimal community change in response to dietary shifts. this cor ... | 2016 | 27590811 |
| absence of leishmaniinae and nosematidae in stingless bees. | bee pollination is an indispensable component of global food production and plays a crucial role in sustainable agriculture. the worldwide decline of bee populations, including wild pollinators, poses a threat to this system. however, most studies to date are situated in temperate regions where apini and bombini are very abundant pollinators. tropical and subtropical regions where stingless bees (apidae: meliponini) are generally very common, are often overlooked. these bees also face pressure d ... | 2016 | 27586080 |
| behavioral modulation of infestation by varroa destructor in bee colonies. implications for colony stability. | colony collapse disorder (ccd) has become a global problem for beekeepers and for the crops that depend on bee pollination. while many factors are known to increase the risk of colony collapse, the ectoparasitic mite varroa destructor is considered to be the most serious one. although this mite is unlikely to cause the collapse of hives itself, it is the vector for many viral diseases which are among the likely causes for colony collapse disorder. the effects of v. destructor infestation differ ... | 2016 | 27583438 |
| macroevolution of perfume signalling in orchid bees. | theory predicts that both stabilising selection and diversifying selection jointly contribute to the evolution of sexual signalling traits by (1) maintaining the integrity of communication signals within species and (2) promoting the diversification of traits among lineages. however, for many important signalling traits, little is known about whether these dynamics translate into predictable macroevolutionary signatures. here, we test for macroevolutionary patterns consistent with sexual signall ... | 2016 | 27581155 |
| the impact of sublethal concentrations of cu, pb and cd on honey bee redox status, superoxide dismutase and catalase in laboratory conditions. | in this study, laboratory bioassays were performed to investigate the impact of sublethal concentrations of cu (cucl2: 1000, 100, 10 mg l(-1)), pb (pbcl2: 10, 1, 0.1 mg l(-1)) and cd (cdcl2: 0.1, 0.01, 0.001 mg l(-1)) on honey bee redox status and the activity of the main antioxidative enzymes and their gene expression. our results show that exposure to these metals led to significant changes of gene expression, the levels of enzyme activity and redox status, but the effects are metal and dose d ... | 2016 | 27580263 |
| honey bee gut microbiome is altered by in-hive pesticide exposures. | honey bees (apis mellifera) are the primary pollinators of major horticultural crops. over the last few decades, a substantial decline in honey bees and their colonies have been reported. while a plethora of factors could contribute to the putative decline, pathogens, and pesticides are common concerns that draw attention. in addition to potential direct effects on honey bees, indirect pesticide effects could include alteration of essential gut microbial communities and symbionts that are import ... | 2016 | 27579024 |
| combined neonicotinoid pesticide and parasite stress alter honeybee queens' physiology and survival. | honeybee colony survival strongly relies on the queen to overcome worker losses exposed to combined stressors like pesticides and parasites. queen's capacity to withstand these stressors is however very little known. the effects of the common neonicotinoid pesticide imidacloprid in a chronic and sublethal exposure together with the wide distributed parasite nosema ceranae have therefore been investigated on queen's physiology and survivorship in laboratory and field conditions. early physiologic ... | 2016 | 27578396 |
| propolis: a new frontier for wound healing? | propolis is a resin produced by honeybees by mixing wax, pollen, salivary secretions, and collected natural resins. the precise composition of propolis varies with the source, and over 300 chemical components belonging to the flavonoids, terpenes, and phenolic acids have been identified in propolis. moreover, its chemical composition is subjected to the geographical location, botanical origin, and bee species. propolis and its compounds have been the focus of many works due to their antimicrobia ... | 2015 | 27574655 |
| land-use change reduces habitat suitability for supporting managed honey bee colonies in the northern great plains. | human reliance on insect pollination services continues to increase even as pollinator populations exhibit global declines. increased commodity crop prices and federal subsidies for biofuel crops, such as corn and soybeans, have contributed to rapid land-use change in the us northern great plains (ngp), changes that may jeopardize habitat for honey bees in a part of the country that supports >40% of the us colony stock. we investigated changes in biofuel crop production and grassland land covers ... | 2016 | 27573824 |
| bee sting: a rare cause of takotsubo cardiomyopathy. | 2016 | 27573610 | |
| erratum to: flower detection and acuity of the australian native stingless bee tetragonula carbonaria sm. | 2016 | 27573081 | |
| use of sige/t-ige in predicting systemic reactions: retrospective analysis of 54 honeybee venom allergy cases in north china. | venom allergy is significantly underestimated in china. venom-specific ige may not provide accurate clinical reactions. our conducted retrospective analysis observes alternative diagnostic considerations in assessing confirmation and severity of honeybee venom allergy. | 2016 | 27569237 |
| effects of a neonicotinoid pesticide on thermoregulation of african honey bees (apis mellifera scutellata). | thiamethoxam is a widely used neonicotinoid pesticide that, as agonist of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, has been shown to elicit a variety of sublethal effects in honey bees. however, information concerning neonicotinoid effects on honey bee thermoregulation is lacking. thermoregulation is an essential ability for the honey bee that guarantees the success of foraging and many in-hive tasks, especially brood rearing. we tested the effects of acute exposure to thiamethoxam (0.2, 1, 2ng/be ... | 2016 | 27568395 |
| bee pollen as a bioindicator of environmental pesticide contamination. | honeybees and bee products are potential bioindicators of the presence of contaminants in the environment, enabling monitoring of large areas due to the long distances travelled by bees. this work evaluates the use of bee pollen as a bioindicator of environmental contamination by pesticides. a gc-ms/ms analytical method for multiresidue determination of 26 different pesticides in pollen was developed and validated in accordance with the recommendations of the european union sanco guide. environm ... | 2016 | 27567152 |
| immunomodulatory/anti-inflammatory effects of a propolis-containing mouthwash on human monocytes. | propolis is a bee product used in folk medicine to improve health and prevent inflammatory diseases. it has attracted the attention of researchers from the odontological field lately, reducing inflammation resulting from surgical procedures and as an antimicrobial agent in the control of bacterial plaque. thus far, no side-effects that might compromise oral health have been observed. chlorhexidine is an antimicrobial agent widely used as an antiseptic, but side-effects restrict its use. this wor ... | 2016 | 27566297 |
| propolis, a hope for the future in treating resistant periodontal pathogens. | periodontitis is one of the most common causes of tooth loss worldwide. recently, special attention has been paid to natural medication for its treatment. for this purpose, propolis (bee glue) activity has also been investigated. its antibacterial properties are mainly attributed to flavonones pinocembrin, flavonols galangin and to the caffeic acid phenethyl ester. this study is aimed at evaluating the antimicrobial effects of propolis from pakistan on 35 clinical isolates of pigmented anaerobic ... | 2016 | 27563508 |
| anti-inflammatory activity of bee venom in bv2 microglial cells: mediation of myd88-dependent nf-κb signaling pathway. | bee venom has long been used as a traditional folk medicine in korea. it has been reportedly used for the treatment of arthritis, cancer, and inflammation. although its anti-inflammatory activity in lipopolysaccharide- (lps-) stimulated inflammatory cells has been reported, the exact mechanism of its anti-inflammatory action has not been fully elucidated. therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the anti-inflammatory mechanism of bee venom in bv2 microglial cells. we first investigate ... | 2016 | 27563334 |
| an evaluation of the honey bee (hymenoptera: apidae) safety profile of a new systemic insecticide, flupyradifurone, under field conditions in florida. | flupyradifurone (sivanto) is a novel systemic insecticide from the butenolide class developed by bayer. based on available data (usepa 2014), this insecticide appears to have a favorable safety profile for honey bee colonies. as a result, the label permits the product to be applied during prebloom and bloom in various crops, including citrus, except when mixed with azole fungicides during the blooming period. we placed 24 honey bee (apis mellifera l.) colonies adjacent to eight flowering buckwhe ... | 2016 | 27563069 |
| the influence of floral traits on specialization and modularity of plant-pollinator networks in a biodiversity hotspot in the peruvian andes. | modularity is a ubiquitous and important structural property of ecological networks which describes the relative strengths of sets of interacting species and gives insights into the dynamics of ecological communities. however, this has rarely been studied in species-rich, tropical plant-pollinator networks. working in a biodiversity hotspot in the peruvian andes we assessed the structure of quantitative plant-pollinator networks in nine valleys, quantifying modularity among networks, defining th ... | 2016 | 27562649 |
| sub-lethal effects of dietary neonicotinoid insecticide exposure on honey bee queen fecundity and colony development. | many factors can negatively affect honey bee (apis mellifera l.) health including the pervasive use of systemic neonicotinoid insecticides. through direct consumption of contaminated nectar and pollen from treated plants, neonicotinoids can affect foraging, learning, and memory in worker bees. less well studied are the potential effects of neonicotinoids on queen bees, which may be exposed indirectly through trophallaxis, or food-sharing. to assess effects on queen productivity, small colonies o ... | 2016 | 27562025 |
| a look into the cell: honey storage in honey bees, apis mellifera. | honey bees, apis species, obtain carbohydrates from nectar and honeydew. these resources are ripened into honey in wax cells that are capped for long-term storage. these stores are used to overcome dearth periods when foraging is not possible. despite the economic and ecological importance of honey, little is known about the processes of its production by workers. here, we monitored the usage of storage cells and the ripening process of honey in free-flying a. mellifera colonies. we provided the ... | 2016 | 27560969 |
| investigation of the inhibitory properties of some phenolic standards and bee products against human carbonic anhydrase i and ii. | polyphenols are important secondary products of plants with the potential to inhibit carbonic anhydrases. the aim of this study was to investigate the inhibition effects of various phenolic standards, honey, propolis, and pollen species on human carbonic anhydrase i and ii. the inhibition values (ic50) of the phenolics (gallic acid, protocatechuic acid, quercetin, catechin, tannic acid, and chrysin) ranged from 0.009 to 0.32 μg/ml, tannic acid emerging as the best inhibitor. the inhibition value ... | 2016 | 27559016 |
| sequence capture and phylogenetic utility of genomic ultraconserved elements obtained from pinned insect specimens. | obtaining sequence data from historical museum specimens has been a growing research interest, invigorated by next-generation sequencing methods that allow inputs of highly degraded dna. we applied a target enrichment and next-generation sequencing protocol to generate ultraconserved elements (uces) from 51 large carpenter bee specimens (genus xylocopa), representing 25 species with specimen ages ranging from 2-121 years. we measured the correlation between specimen age and dna yield (pre- and p ... | 2016 | 27556533 |
| migratory management and environmental conditions affect lifespan and oxidative stress in honey bees. | most pollination in large-scale agriculture is dependent on managed colonies of a single species, the honey bee apis mellifera. more than 1 million hives are transported to california each year just to pollinate the almonds, and bees are trucked across the country for various cropping systems. concerns have been raised about whether such "migratory management" causes bees undue stress; however to date there have been no longer-term studies rigorously addressing whether migratory management is de ... | 2016 | 27554200 |
| large-scale recombinant expression and purification of human tyrosinase suitable for structural studies. | human tyrosinase (tyr) is a glycoprotein that initiates the first two reactions in the melanin biosynthesis pathway. mutations in its encoding gene cause oculocutaneous albinism type i (oca1), the most severe form of albinism, which is a group of autosomal recessive disorders characterized by reduced or absent production of melanin in skin, hair and eyes. despite extensive structural and characterization studies of its homologues in lower eukaryotic organisms, the catalytic mechanism of human ty ... | 2016 | 27551823 |
| specialist pollinators deplete pollen in the spring ephemeral wildflower claytonia virginica. | pollinators that collect pollen - and specifically, pollen-specialist bees - are often considered to be the best pollinators of a (host) plant. although pollen collectors and pollen specialists often benefit host plants, especially in the pollen that they deliver (their pollination "effectiveness"), they can also exact substantial costs because they are motivated to collect as much pollen as possible, reducing the proportion of pollen removed that is subsequently delivered to stigmas (their poll ... | 2016 | 27551374 |
| drone exposure to the systemic insecticide fipronil indirectly impairs queen reproductive potential. | a species that requires sexual reproduction but cannot reproduce is doomed to extinction. the important increasing loss of species emphasizes the ecological significance of elucidating the effects of environmental stressors, such as pesticides, on reproduction. despite its special reproductive behavior, the honey bee was selected as a relevant and integrative environmental model because of its constant and diverse exposure to many stressors due to foraging activity. the widely used insecticide f ... | 2016 | 27549030 |
| granulomatous inflammation induced by bee sting. | 2016 | 27548296 | |
| modified artificial bee colony for the vehicle routing problems with time windows. | the natural behaviour of the honeybee has attracted the attention of researchers in recent years and several algorithms have been developed that mimic swarm behaviour to solve optimisation problems. this paper introduces an artificial bee colony (abc) algorithm for the vehicle routing problem with time windows (vrptw). a modified abc algorithm is proposed to improve the solution quality of the original abc. the high exploration ability of the abc slows-down its convergence speed, which may due t ... | 2016 | 27547672 |
| flower diversity and bee reproduction in an arid ecosystem. | diverse flower communities are more stable in floral resource production along the flowering season, but the question about how the diversity and stability of resources affect pollinator reproduction remains open. high plant diversity could favor short foraging trips, which in turn would enhance bee fitness. in addition to plant diversity, greater temporal stability of floral resources in diverse communities could favor pollinator fitness because such communities are likely to occupy the phenolo ... | 2016 | 27547556 |
| ecological traits affect the sensitivity of bees to land-use pressures in european agricultural landscapes. | bees are a functionally important and economically valuable group, but are threatened by land-use conversion and intensification. such pressures are not expected to affect all species identically; rather, they are likely to be mediated by the species' ecological traits.understanding which types of species are most vulnerable under which land uses is an important step towards effective conservation planning.we collated occurrence and abundance data for 257 bee species at 1584 european sites from ... | 2015 | 27546902 |
| honeybee males use highly concentrated nectar as fuel for mating flights. | honeybees use nectar held in the crop as their main source of energy for flight but the mass of the crop nectar load may be a cost burden. this study investigated whether males of the honeybee apis mellifera adjust their nectar fuel load and concentration to enhance the success of mating flights. when the crop content was compared between males staying in the hive and those departing, the latter group had the larger volume (median, 5.0μl; range, 0.0-17.8μl) and higher concentration (median, 71.6 ... | 2016 | 27546782 |
| key management practices to prevent high infestation levels of varroa destructor in honey bee colonies at the beginning of the honey yield season. | varroa destructor is considered one of the main threats to worldwide apiculture causing a variety of physiological effects at individual and colony level. also, varroa mites are often associated with several honey bee viruses presence. relatively low levels of varroa during the spring, at the beginning of the honey yield season, can have a significant economic impact on honey production and colony health. winter treatments against varroa and certain management practices may delay mite population ... | 2016 | 27544258 |
| the etiology and clinical features of anaphylaxis in a developing country: a nationwide survey in turkey. | despite the increasing frequency of anaphylaxis, there is inadequate information on the etiology and clinical features in various countries, regions and age groups, especially in developing countries. | 2016 | 27543730 |
| the multilevel modality-switch effect: what happens when we see the bees buzzing and hear the diamonds glistening. | previous studies demonstrated that the sequential verification of different sensory modality properties for concepts (e.g., blender-loud; banana-yellow) brings about a processing cost, known as the modality-switch effect. we report an experiment designed to assess the influence of the mode of presentation (i.e., visual, aural) of stimuli on the modality-switch effect in a property verification and lexical decision priming paradigm. participants were required to perform a property verification or ... | 2016 | 27542801 |
| identification of complete repertoire of apis florea odorant receptors reveals complex orthologous relationships with apis mellifera. | we developed a computational pipeline for homology based identification of the complete repertoire of olfactory receptor (or) genes in the asian honey bee species, apis florea apis florea is phylogenetically the most basal honey bee species and also the most distant sister species to the western honey bee apis mellifera, for which all or genes had been identified before. using our pipeline, we identified 180 or genes in a. florea, which is very similar to the number of ors identified in a. melli ... | 2016 | 27540087 |
| local bumble bee decline linked to recovery of honey bees, drought effects on floral resources. | time series of abundances are critical for understanding how abiotic factors and species interactions affect population dynamics, but are rarely linked with experiments and also scarce for bee pollinators. this gap is important given concerns about declines in some bee species. i monitored honey bee (apis mellifera) and bumble bee (bombus spp.) foragers in coastal california from 1999, when feral a. mellifera populations were low due to varroa destructor, until 2014. apis mellifera increased sub ... | 2016 | 27539950 |
| the buzz about honey bee viruses. | 2016 | 27537076 | |
| usage report of pharmacopuncture in musculoskeletal patients visiting korean medicine hospitals and clinics in korea. | pharmacopuncture is a relatively new acupuncture therapy combining acupuncture with herbal medicine. while pharmacopuncture is applied extensively in korean medicine treatment, there are no clinical reports regarding what types of pharmacopuncture are used for which diseases. | 2016 | 27535134 |