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
 close



Research
                Research Home
                            National Programs
                            Research Projects
                            Scientific Manuscripts
                            International Engagement
                            Scientific Software/Models
                            Databases and Datasets
                            Office of Scientific Quality Review
            Media
                News & Features
                            Multimedia
                            Briefing Room
                            Down on the Farm
                            Press Room
                            Science in Your Shopping Cart
                            Scientific Discoveries
                            Tellus
                            Under the Microscope
            About ARS
                About ARS Home
                            Staff Directory
                            Labs and Research Centers (Map)
                            Headquarter Offices
                            Organizational Chart
                            Employee Services (REE Employees Only)
                            Office of Outreach, Diversity, and Equal Opportunity
            Work With Us
                Work With Us Home
                            ARS Vacancies at USAJOBS
                            Careers at ARS Information
                            Scientific Collaborations
                            Extramural Agreements
                            1890 Faculty Research Sabbatical ProgramSearch small
                    Search
            
            ARS Home
                                About ARS
                                Contact Us




ARS Home Research Publications at this Location





- ARS National Programs
- Search for a scientific manuscript
- Search for a research project
- ARS Software
- Programs and Projects
- Collaborations
- Subjects of Investigation
- Publications

Title:   Author  item
                                            Evans, Jay
  Submitted to: Journal of Invertebrate Pathology
                                    Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
                                    Publication Acceptance Date: 6/1/2004
                                    Publication  Date: 6/1/2004
                                    Citation: Evans, J.D. 2004. Transcriptional immune responses by honey bee larvae during invasion by the bacterial pathogen, paenibacillus larvae. Journal of Invertebrate Pathology. 85(2):105-111.Interpretive Summary: Honey bees face numerous pests and pathogens, leading to high costs in the maintenance of this important agricultural species.  One route toward breeding bees resistant to these pathogens involves enhancing the immune system of bees through selection. This study looks at immune response of bees when experimentally fed the bacterium responsible for the important disease American Foulbrood.  It is shown for the first time that bees do have an immune response to this bacterium and that this response is variable across different bees.  One antibiotic protein produced by bees seems to be a particularly good measure of the bee immune response.  The described techniques can be used by governmental and university researchers to characterize the immune responses of different bees and use this information in breeding schemes for new ways to combat disease.
                                Technical Abstract: Honey bee larvae are highly susceptible to the bacterial pathogen Paenibacillus larvae only during the first instar of larval development.  Transcript levels for genes encoding two antimicrobial peptides, abaecin and defensin, as well as for two candidate proteins for the immune-response cascade (PGRP-LD and masquerade) were compared for control and inoculated bees throughout larval development.  Transcripts for all four are present throughout development.  This suggests that other physiological or dietary factors may better explain the age-based change in vulnerability to this pathogen.  One of these peptides, abaecin, shows significant up-regulation 24 hours following oral inoculation with P. larvae, precisely when this bacterium begins invading the midgut epithelia of bees.  Expression of both antimicrobial peptides varied tremendously across different bees, suggesting an allelic component to their expression.  The implications of this result for current hypotheses related to disease tolerance in social insects are discussed, along with implications for breeding bees resistant to this important disease.


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