Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Michael Smith LaboratoriesUniversity of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Physiology (Bethesda). 2024 Jul 1;39(4):0. doi: 10.1152/physiol.00033.2023. Epub 2024 Feb 27.
Bees are the most important insect pollinators of the crops humans grow, and , the Western honey bee, is the most commonly managed species for this purpose. In addition to providing agricultural services, the complex biology of honey bees has been the subject of scientific study since the 18th century, and the intricate behaviors of honey bees and ants, fellow hymenopterans, inspired much sociobiological inquest. Unfortunately, honey bees are constantly exposed to parasites, pathogens, and xenobiotics, all of which pose threats to their health. Despite our curiosity about and dependence on honey bees, defining the molecular mechanisms underlying their interactions with biotic and abiotic stressors has been challenging. The very aspects of their physiology and behavior that make them so important to agriculture also make them challenging to study, relative to canonical model organisms. However, because we rely on so much for pollination, we must continue our efforts to understand what ails them. Here, we review major advancements in our knowledge of honey bee physiology, focusing on immunity and detoxification, and highlight some challenges that remain.
蜜蜂是人类种植作物最重要的传粉昆虫，而西方蜜蜂是最常用于此目的管理物种。除了提供农业服务外，蜜蜂的复杂生物学自 18 世纪以来一直是科学研究的主题，而蜜蜂和蚂蚁等膜翅目昆虫的复杂行为激发了许多社会生物学研究。不幸的是，蜜蜂不断受到寄生虫、病原体和异生物的暴露，所有这些都对它们的健康构成威胁。尽管我们对蜜蜂感到好奇并依赖它们，但定义它们与生物和非生物胁迫相互作用的分子机制一直具有挑战性。它们的生理和行为特征使它们对农业非常重要，但与典型的模式生物相比，研究它们也具有挑战性。然而，因为我们在授粉方面依赖它们太多，所以我们必须继续努力了解它们的问题所在。在这里，我们回顾了我们对蜜蜂生理学的主要认识进展，重点介绍了免疫和解毒，强调了一些仍然存在的挑战。
