Real-time monitoring of deformed wing virus-infected bee foraging behavior following histone deacetylase inhibitor treatment
Cheng-Kang Tang,
Yu-Hsien Lin,
Joe-Air Jiang,
Yun-Heng Lu,
Chih-Hsuan Tsai,
Yu-Chun Lin,
Yun-Ru Chen,
Carol-P Wu,
Yueh-Lung Wu
Affiliations
Cheng-Kang Tang
Department of Entomology, National Taiwan University, 27, Lane 113, Roosevelt Road Sec. 4, Taipei 106, Taiwan
Yu-Hsien Lin
Department of Plant Physiology, Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, University of Amsterdam, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Joe-Air Jiang
Department of Biomechatronics Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei 106, Taiwan; Department of Medical Research, China Medical University Hospital, China Medical University, Taichung 40447, Taiwan
Yun-Heng Lu
Department of Entomology, National Taiwan University, 27, Lane 113, Roosevelt Road Sec. 4, Taipei 106, Taiwan
Chih-Hsuan Tsai
Department of Entomology, National Taiwan University, 27, Lane 113, Roosevelt Road Sec. 4, Taipei 106, Taiwan
Yu-Chun Lin
Department of Entomology, National Taiwan University, 27, Lane 113, Roosevelt Road Sec. 4, Taipei 106, Taiwan
Yun-Ru Chen
Department of Entomology, National Taiwan University, 27, Lane 113, Roosevelt Road Sec. 4, Taipei 106, Taiwan
Carol-P Wu
Department of Entomology, National Taiwan University, 27, Lane 113, Roosevelt Road Sec. 4, Taipei 106, Taiwan
Yueh-Lung Wu
Department of Entomology, National Taiwan University, 27, Lane 113, Roosevelt Road Sec. 4, Taipei 106, Taiwan; Corresponding author
Summary: Impairment in the learning/memory behavior of bees is responsible for the massive disappearance of bee populations and its consequent agricultural economic losses. Such impairment might be because of o both pesticide exposure and pathogen infection, with a key contributor deformed wing virus (DWV). The present study found that sodium butyrate (NaB) significantly increased survival and reversed the learning/memory impairment of DWV-infected bees. A next-generation sequencing analysis showed that NaB affected the expression of genes involved in glycolytic processes and memory formation, which were suppressed by DWV infection. In addition, we performed a large-scale movement tracking experiment by using a wireless sensor network-based automatic real-time monitoring system and confirmed that NaB could improve the homing ability of DWV-infected bees. In short, we demonstrated the mechanism of how epigenetic regulation can resume the memory function of honeybees and suggest strategies for applying NaB to reduce the incidence of colony losses.
