Abstract
The effects of parasites, pathogens and agrochemical exposure combined with the cold temperatures of winter in temperate-climate regions contribute to the immunosuppression of honey bees. Recently, we demonstrated that abscisic acid (ABA) dietary supplementation increased the tolerance of Apis mellifera brood to low temperatures. Here, we study the relationship between cold exposure, dietary ABA supplementation, and the expression of genes involved in the immune response of in-vitro-reared bee larvae. We found that cold exposure induced the expression of several immune-associated genes in honey bee larvae, supporting that the immune system is active during the cold stress response in A. mellifera. At the same time, the ingestion of ABA alone increased the expression levels of the Toll pathway receptor toll18W and nitric oxide synthase (nos) genes, which were induced also by low temperatures, reinforcing the connection between honey bees’ response to cold stress and ABA.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Dr. Yves Le Conte for his advice, the CONICET and the UNMdP. The authors would like to thank both the editor and the reviewers for their thoughtful comments and dedication that lead to a better version of the entire work. PN is an assistant researcher from CONICET, Argentina.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.