MICROBIOTA
Honeybee self-medication
Caroline Ash
Plants generate a range of toxic metabolites, many of which are intended to deter insect pests. Pollinators are also exposed to these so-called xenobiotic compounds in nectar and pollen. Some of these chemicals can confer benefits to pollinators against pathogens, but it is a question of getting the dose right. Compared with other insects, bees lack the genetic capacity to fully metabolize xenobiotics, so Motta et al. investigated whether the bee microbiome could supply the missing functions. Honeybees feeding on almond blossom ingest the cyanogenic glycoside amygdalin when foraging. The authors found that microbiota-depleted bees metabolized amygdalin to the more toxic prunasin, which accumulated in the insect’s gut. Bees with a full complement of gut microbiota, including one called Bifidobacterium wkB204, can fully degrade amygdalin by means of a glycoside hydrolase 3. Host and microbiota thus join forces to maintain levels of a potential toxin at tolerable levels to ward off parasites.
eLife 11, e82595 (2022).
Global Plant Protection News 
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