The habitat disruption induces immune-suppression and oxidative stress in honey bees.

ABSTRACT: The honey bee is a major insect used for pollination of many commercial crops worldwide. Although the use of honey bees for pollination can disrupt the habitat, the effects on their physiology have never been determined. Recently, honey bee colonies have often collapsed when introduced in greenhouses for pollination in Japan. Thus, suppressing colony collapses and maintaining the number of worker bees in the colonies is essential for successful long-term pollination in greenhouses and recycling of honey bee colonies. To understand the physiological states of honey bees used for long-term pollination in greenhouses, we characterized their gene expression profiles by microarray. We found that the greenhouse environment changes the gene expression profiles and induces immune-suppression and o

SUBMITTER: Morimoto T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3287300 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature