Tang Cheng-Kang, Lin Yu-Hsien, Jiang Joe-Air, Lu Yun-Heng, Tsai Chih-Hsuan, Lin Yu-Chun, Chen Yun-Ru, Wu Carol-P, Wu Yueh-Lung
Department of Entomology, National Taiwan University, 27, Lane 113, Roosevelt Road Sec. 4, Taipei 106, Taiwan.
Department of Plant Physiology, Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, University of Amsterdam, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
iScience. 2021 Sep 28;24(10):103056. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.103056. eCollection 2021 Oct 22.
Impairment in the learning/memory behavior of bees is responsible for the massive disappearance of bee populations and its consequent agricultural economic losses. Such impairment might be because of o both pesticide exposure and pathogen infection, with a key contributor deformed wing virus (DWV). The present study found that sodium butyrate (NaB) significantly increased survival and reversed the learning/memory impairment of DWV-infected bees. A next-generation sequencing analysis showed that NaB affected the expression of genes involved in glycolytic processes and memory formation, which were suppressed by DWV infection. In addition, we performed a large-scale movement tracking experiment by using a wireless sensor network-based automatic real-time monitoring system and confirmed that NaB could improve the homing ability of DWV-infected bees. In short, we demonstrated the mechanism of how epigenetic regulation can resume the memory function of honeybees and suggest strategies for applying NaB to reduce the incidence of colony losses.
蜜蜂学习/记忆行为的损伤是蜜蜂种群大量消失及其随之而来的农业经济损失的原因。这种损伤可能是由于接触杀虫剂和病原体感染，其中一个关键因素是变形翼病毒（DWV）。本研究发现，丁酸钠（NaB）显著提高了感染DWV的蜜蜂的存活率，并逆转了其学习/记忆损伤。下一代测序分析表明，NaB影响了参与糖酵解过程和记忆形成的基因的表达，而这些基因在DWV感染时受到抑制。此外，我们使用基于无线传感器网络的自动实时监测系统进行了大规模运动跟踪实验，并证实NaB可以提高感染DWV的蜜蜂的归巢能力。简而言之，我们展示了表观遗传调控恢复蜜蜂记忆功能的机制，并提出了应用NaB降低蜂群损失发生率的策略。
