Seminal fluid of honeybees contains multiple mechanisms to combat infections of the sexually transmitted pathogen Nosema apis

Proceedings. Biological Sciences
Yan PengBoris Baer

Abstract

The societies of ants, bees and wasps are genetically closed systems where queens only mate during a brief mating episode prior to their eusocial life and males therefore provide queens with a lifetime supply of high-quality sperm. These ejaculates also contain a number of defence proteins that have been detected in the seminal fluid but their function and efficiency have never been investigated in great detail. Here, we used the honeybee Apis mellifera and quantified whether seminal fluid is able to combat infections of the fungal pathogen Nosema apis, a widespread honeybee parasite that is also sexually transmitted. We provide the first empirical evidence that seminal fluid has a remarkable antimicrobial activity against N. apis spores and that antimicrobial seminal fluid components kill spores in multiple ways. The protein fraction of seminal fluid induces extracellular spore germination, which disrupts the life cycle of N. apis, whereas the non-protein fraction of seminal fluid induces a direct viability loss of intact spores. We conclude that males provide their ejaculates with efficient antimicrobial molecules that are able to kill N. apis spores and thereby reduce the risk of disease transmission during mating. Our findi...Continue Reading

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Citations

Aug 20, 2016·Journal of Evolutionary Biology·S M Barribeau, P Schmid-Hempel
Feb 16, 2018·The Journal of Experimental Biology·Sarah ChérasseJacobus J Boomsma
Feb 16, 2018·The Journal of Experimental Biology·Francisco DávilaSerge Aron
Jan 2, 2019·Molecular & Cellular Proteomics : MCP·Ryan DosselliBoris Baer
Jan 8, 2020·Nature Reviews. Microbiology·Jessamyn I Perlmutter, Seth R Bordenstein
Jul 23, 2020·Journal of Evolutionary Biology·Yumi NakaderaSteven A Ramm
Nov 25, 2018·BMC Microbiology·Francesca ScolariAnna Rodolfa Malacrida
Mar 15, 2019·Molecular & Cellular Proteomics : MCP·Ryan DosselliBoris Baer

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