Metabolomics reveals the origins of antimicrobial plant
resins collected by honey bees
PLoS One, 2013 Oct 18;8(10):e77512
The deposition of antimicrobial plant resins in honey bee,
Apis mellifera, nests has important physiological benefits. Resin foraging is
difficult to approach experimentally because resin composition is highly variable
among and between plant families, the environmental and plant-genotypic effects
on resins are unknown, and resin foragers are relatively rare and often forage
in unobservable tree canopies. Subsequently, little is known about the
botanical origins of resins in many regions or the benefits of specific resins
to bees.
We used metabolomic methods as a type of environmental
forensics to track individual resin forager behavior through comparisons of
global resin metabolite patterns. The resin from the corbiculae of a single bee
was sufficient to identify that resin's botanical source without prior
knowledge of resin composition. Bees from our apiary discriminately foraged for
resin from eastern cottonwood (Populus deltoides), and balsam poplar (P.
balsamifera) among many available, even closely related, resinous plants.
Cottonwood and balsam poplar resin composition did not show significant
seasonal or regional changes in composition. Metabolomic analysis of resin from
6 North American Populus spp. and 5 hybrids revealed peaks characteristic to
taxonomic nodes within Populus, while antimicrobial analysis revealed that
resin from different species varied in inhibition of the bee bacterial
pathogen, Paenibacillus larvae.
We conclude that honey bees make discrete choices among many
resinous plant species, even among closely related species. Bees also
maintained fidelity to a single source during a foraging trip. Furthermore, the
differential inhibition of P. larvae by Populus spp., thought to be
preferential for resin collection in temperate regions, suggests that resins
from closely related plant species many have different benefits to bees.
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