U.S. flagAn official website of the United States government
                    Here's how you know **Official websites use .gov**
                            
                            A **.gov** website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
 **Secure .gov websites use HTTPS**
                            
                            A **lock** (                            
                              A locked padlock                                                      
                            
                            ) or **https://** means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Menu Agricultural Research Service
						
                    U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
 Carl Hayden Bee Research Center: Tucson, AZ
 close



    Research

                    Research Projects
                                    Publications
                                    Collaborations
                                    News
                People

                    Staff Listing
                                    Careers


        


                    Information
                        Africanized Honey Bees
                                    Bee Safety
                                    Online Books
                                    Other NewsSearch small
                    Search
            
            ARS Home
                                About ARS
                                Contact Us




ARS Home Pacific West Area Tucson, Arizona Carl Hayden Bee Research Center Research





- DeGrandi-Hoffman, Gloria
- Corby-Harris, Vanessa
- Carroll, Mark
- Gesch, Russell - Russ
- Eberle, Carrie
- Prasifka, Jarrad
- Crop Production (305)

Research Project: **Location:
                            Carl Hayden Bee Research Center** Project Number: 2022-21000-022-053-I
                        
                        Project Type: Interagency Reimbursable Agreement Start Date: Jul 15, 2022
                        
                        End Date: Sep 30, 2023 **Objective:**
                        
                        1) To quantify concentrations of protein, lipid, amino and fatty acids in pollen from plants that are foraged by bees.
2) To provide the information to collaborators and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) PLANTS database for inclusion in the new 'Pollinators' section. **Approach:**
                        
                        Pollen will be collected from anthers of flowers, and immediately frozen at -80 degrees celcius until analyzed. Nutritional analyses will be conducted using previously published protocols developed in our laboratory. Briefly, protein concentrations will be estimated using a bicinchoninic acid (BCA) analysis, while fatty acid concentrations will be determined using a chromic acid oxidation assay. Amino acids (AAs) will be quantified after fluoroalkyl chloroformate derivatization using an EZFAAST amino acid hydrolysate kit. All essential amino acids except tryptophan and cysteine will be characterized after acid hydrolysis. Glutamine and asparagine will be converted by acidic conditions to their acid equivalents glutamic acid and aspartic acid. Tryptophan will be extracted separately after base hydrolysis and characterized by fluoroalkyl chloroformate derivatization. Cysteine residues will be quantified after phenylisothiocyanate (PITC) derivatization.

Individual fatty acids will be analyzed by fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) analysis after conversion to their methyl ester equivalents. FAME compounds will be quantified by comparison of characteristic mass fragments (m/z) with known amounts of authentic standards. The fraction of the total sample injected will be calculated from the amount of internal standard (pentadecanoic acid) detected in each injected sample.


Return to top


Connect with ARS Sign up


ARS Home
                            USDA.gov
                            Plain Writing
                            Policies & Links
                            Civil Rights Statements
                            FOIA
                            Accessibility Statement
                            Privacy Policy
                            Non-Discrimination Statement
                            Quality of Information
                            USA.gov
                            WhiteHouse.gov