Diet-dependent gene expression in honey bees: honey vs. sucrose or high fructose corn syrup.

ABSTRACT: Severe declines in honey bee populations have made it imperative to understand key factors impacting honey bee health. Of major concern is nutrition, as malnutrition in honey bees is associated with immune system impairment and increased pesticide susceptibility. Beekeepers often feed high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) or sucrose after harvesting honey or during periods of nectar dearth. We report that, relative to honey, chronic feeding of either of these two alternative carbohydrate sources elicited hundreds of differences in gene expression in the fat body, a peripheral nutrient-sensing tissue analogous to vertebrate liver and adipose tissues. These expression differences included genes involved in protein metabolism and oxidation-reduction, including some involved in tyrosine and phenylal

SUBMITTER: Wheeler MM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4103092 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature