Fitch Gordon, Figueroa Laura L, Koch Hauke, Stevenson Philip C, Adler Lynn S
Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, 01003, USA.
Department of Entomology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA.
Int J Parasitol Parasites Wildl. 2022 Mar 7;17:244-256. doi: 10.1016/j.ijppaw.2022.02.011. eCollection 2022 Apr.
Floral nectar and pollen commonly contain diverse secondary metabolites. While these compounds are classically thought to play a role in plant defense, recent research indicates that they may also reduce disease in pollinators. Given that parasites have been implicated in ongoing bee declines, this discovery has spurred interest in the potential for 'medicinal' floral products to aid in pollinator conservation efforts. We review the evidence for antiparasitic effects of floral products on bee diseases, emphasizing the importance of investigating the mechanism underlying antiparasitic effects, including direct or host-mediated effects. We discuss the high specificity of antiparasitic effects of even very similar compounds, and highlight the need to consider how nonadditive effects of multiple compounds, and the post-ingestion transformation of metabolites, mediate the disease-reducing capacity of floral products. While the bulk of research on antiparasitic effects of floral products on bee parasites has been conducted in the lab, we review evidence for the impact of such effects in the field, and highlight areas for future research at the floral product-bee disease interface. Such research has great potential both to enhance our understanding of the role of parasites in shaping plant-bee interactions, and the role of plants in determining bee-parasite dynamics. This understanding may in turn reveal new avenues for pollinator conservation.
花蜜和花粉通常含有多种次生代谢产物。虽然传统上认为这些化合物在植物防御中发挥作用，但最近的研究表明，它们也可能减少传粉者的疾病。鉴于寄生虫与蜜蜂数量持续减少有关，这一发现激发了人们对“药用”花卉产品有助于传粉者保护工作的潜力的兴趣。我们回顾了花卉产品对蜜蜂疾病的抗寄生虫作用的证据，强调了研究抗寄生虫作用潜在机制的重要性，包括直接作用或宿主介导的作用。我们讨论了即使是非常相似的化合物，其抗寄生虫作用也具有高度特异性，并强调需要考虑多种化合物的非加性效应以及代谢产物摄入后的转化如何介导花卉产品的疾病减少能力。虽然关于花卉产品对蜜蜂寄生虫的抗寄生虫作用的大部分研究是在实验室进行的，但我们回顾了此类作用在野外的影响的证据，并突出了花卉产品与蜜蜂疾病界面未来研究的领域。此类研究对于增进我们对寄生虫在塑造植物与蜜蜂相互作用中的作用以及植物在决定蜜蜂与寄生虫动态中的作用的理解具有巨大潜力。反过来，这种理解可能会揭示传粉者保护的新途径。
