Novel Insights into Dietary Phytosterol Utilization and Its Fate in Honey Bees (Apis mellifera L.).

ABSTRACT: Poor nutrition is an important factor in global bee population declines. A significant gap in knowledge persists regarding the role of various nutrients (especially micronutrients) in honey bees. Sterols are essential micronutrients in insect diets and play a physiologically vital role as precursors of important molting hormones and building blocks of cellular membranes. Sterol requirements and metabolism in honey bees are poorly understood. Among all pollen sterols, 24-methylenecholesterol is considered the key phytosterol required by honey bees. Nurse bees assimilate this sterol from dietary sources and store it in their tissues as endogenous sterol, to be transferred to the growing larvae through brood food. This study examined the duration of replacement of such endogenous sterols in h

SUBMITTER: Chakrabarti P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7036750 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature