Collaborative Research: The role of floral secondary compounds in bee performance and disease transmission in a natural ecosystem

合作研究：花次生化合物在自然生态系统中蜜蜂性能和疾病传播中的作用

• 批准号: 1638866
• 负责人: Rebecca Irwin
• 金额: $ 4.65万
• 依托单位: North Carolina State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-02-25 至 2017-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1638866&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; role; floral; secondary

Natural chemical defenses occur in all plants and can be toxic to animals that eat plants (herbivores). Interestingly, some herbivores are able to eat and then use these naturally-occurring chemicals to protect themselves from predators and parasites. Because bees consume large amounts of nectar and pollen that contain these chemicals, they may be able use them as a form of self-medication. This work will test that idea. The research has three main objectives: (1) Pollen and nectar will be collected from wild plant species and tested for potentially protective chemicals. This will reveal the extent to which bees are naturally exposed to such chemicals. (2) Laboratory experiments will determine which chemicals may affect disease in bees. (3) Laboratory and field experiments will test the role of the same chemicals on disease transmission between flowers and bees. Taken together, this research represents a novel approach and will provide insight into how plant defensive chemicals can impact wild animals.This work also addresses the contemporary societal issue of bee health and disease. Many bee populations are in steep decline, which poses a large threat to society because bees provide pollination services that are essential for plant conservation and crop production -- services that are worth billions of dollars annually in the United States. While the combination of many factors is responsible for the crash of bee populations, diseases are one of the major culprits. Understanding whether bees can use particular compounds in nectar and pollen to self-medicate has great potential for discovery of new mechanisms to manage bee diseases and combat pollinator decline. Finally, by training students in bee ecology, this project will help produce a new generation of scientists with the skills needed to pursue solutions to bee decline and other ecological threats.

天然化学防御发生在所有植物中，可能对食用植物的动物（食草动物）有毒。有趣的是，某些草食动物能够进食，然后使用这些天然存在的化学物质来保护自己免受捕食者和寄生虫的侵害。 由于蜜蜂消耗大量包含这些化学物质的花蜜和花粉，因此它们可能可以将它们用作一种自我药物的形式。 这项工作将测试这个想法。 该研究具有三个主要目标：（1）将从野生植物物种收集花粉和花蜜，并测试了潜在的保护性化学物质。这将揭示蜜蜂自然暴露于这种化学物质的程度。 （2）实验室实验将确定哪种化学物质可能影响蜜蜂的疾病。 （3）实验室和现场实验将测试相同化学物质在花和蜜蜂之间疾病传播中的作用。综上所述，这项研究代表了一种新颖的方法，并将提供有关植物防御性化学物质如何影响野生动物的见解。这项工作还解决了当代的蜜蜂健康与疾病问题。许多蜜蜂种群急剧下降，这对社会构成了巨大威胁，因为蜜蜂提供了对植物保护和作物生产至关重要的授粉服务 - 美国每年价值数十亿美元的服务。 尽管许多因素的组合是造成蜜蜂种群崩溃的原因，但疾病是主要罪魁祸首之一。 了解蜜蜂是否可以使用花蜜和花粉中的特定化合物进行自我药物，从而发现了新机制来管理蜜蜂疾病和打击传粉媒介的下降。 最后，通过培训蜜蜂生态学的学生，该项目将有助于生产新一代的科学家，并具有追求蜜蜂衰落和其他生态威胁的解决方案所需的技能。