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Octopamine mobilizes lipids from honey bee (Apis mellifera) hypopharyngeal glands
Author(s) -
Vanessa CorbyHarris,
Megan E. Deeter,
Lucy Snyder,
Charlotte Meador,
Ashley C. Welchert,
Ashley A Hoffman,
Bethany T. Obernesser
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of experimental biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1477-9145
pISSN - 0022-0949
DOI - 10.1242/jeb.216135
Subject(s) - hemolymph , biology , octopamine (neurotransmitter) , worker bee , honey bee , stressor , insect , zoology , endocrinology , physiology , medicine , ecology , biochemistry , receptor , neuroscience , serotonin
Recent widespread honey bee (Apis mellifera) colony loss is attributed to a variety of stressors including parasites, pathogens, pesticides, and poor nutrition. In principle, we can reduce stress-induced declines in colony health by either removing the stressor or increasing the bees’ tolerance to the stressor. This latter option requires a better understanding than we currently have of how honey bees respond to stress. Here, we investigated how octopamine (OA), a stress-induced hormone that mediates invertebrate physiology and behavior, influences the health of young nurse-aged bees. Specifically, we asked whether OA induces abdominal lipid and hypopharyngeal gland (HG) degradation, two physiological traits of stressed nurse bees. Nurse-aged workers were treated topically with OA and their abdominal lipid content, HG size, and HG autophagic gene expression were measured. Hemolymph lipid titer was measured to determine whether tissue degradation was associated with the release of nutrients from these tissues into the hemolymph. The HGs of OA-treated bees were smaller than control bees and had higher levels of HG autophagy gene expression. OA-treated bees also had higher levels of hemolymph lipid compared to control bees. Abdominal lipids did not change in response to OA. Our findings support the hypothesis that the HGs are a rich source of stored energy that can be mobilized during periods of stress.

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