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Dryad

Phytochemical profiles of honey bees (Apis mellifera) and their larvae differ from the composition of their pollen diet

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Sep 02, 2024 version files 22.90 MB

Abstract

Pollen and nectar consumed by honeybees contain plant secondary metabolites (PSMs) with vital roles in plant-insect interactions. While PSMs can be toxic to bees, they can also be health-promoting, e.g., by improving pesticide and pathogen tolerances. As xenobiotics, PSMs undergo post-ingestion chemical modifications that can affect their bioactivity and transmission to the brood. Despite the importance of understanding honeybee PSM metabolism and distribution for elucidating bioactivity mechanisms, these aspects remain largely unexplored. In this study, we used HPLC-MS/MS to profile 47 pollen PSMs in honeybees and larvae. Both adult bees and larvae had distinct PSM profiles that differed from their diet. This is likely due to post-ingestion metabolism and compound-dependent variations in PSM transmission to the brood via nurse bee jelly. Phenolic acids and flavonoid aglycones were most abundant in bees and larvae, whereas alkaloids, cyanogenic glycosides, and diterpenoids had the lowest abundance despite being consumed in higher concentrations. This study documents larval exposure to a variety of PSMs for the first time, with concentrations increasing from early to late larval instars. Our findings provide novel insights into the post-ingestion fate of PSMs in honeybees, providing a foundation for further exploration of biotransformation pathways and PSM effects on honeybee health.