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Autoclaved Nosema ceranae spores immune adult Apis mellifera against future infection

Abstract

Apis mellifera, the Western honey bee, is an essential pollinator in a multitude of worldwide ecosystems, and occupies a prominent niche in the agricultural industry. Microsporidia like Nosema ceranae are a serious threat to colony health; we demonstrated that immune priming (IP) of newly emerged A. mellifera workers using autoclaved N. ceranae spores can activate an immune response, resulting in lower infection levels after subsequent challenge with live N. ceranae spores. Upon death, bees that were immune primed and challenged were observed to have significantly lower (34%) infection levels compared to control bees that were not immune primed. Immune primed bees also demonstrated a decreased rate of infection. However, the benefit of IP was partially offset by tradeoff in longevity. IP bees survived slightly (1 d) but significantly less than control bees that were not primed or challenged. To determine the mechanisms involved, we analyzed immune gene expression levels of four Toll genes involved in fighting N. ceranae infection. We did not obtain clear results due to high variation in gene expression. However, IP significantly increased expression of apidaecin, hymenoptaecin, and defensin-1, and this may account for a decreased level and rate of infection in IP bees that were subsequently challenged with live spores.

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