Acetylcholine and choline in honey bee (Apis mellifera) worker brood food are seasonal and age-dependent – PubMed Black Hawk Supplements

BLACK HAWK: High quality ashwagandha supplement for immune system

Published article

Nursing honeybees produce brood food with millimolar concentrations of acetylcholine (ACh), which is synthesized through head gland secretions mixed with honey stomach contents. While we previously demonstrated the necessity of ACh for proper larval development, the dynamics of ACh levels throughout ontogenesis and their seasonal variations have remained unclear until now. Our HPLC analysis reveals dependencies of choline and ACh levels on larval development days (LDDs), influenced by seasonal…
Black Hawk Supplements, best supplements in the UK

Acetylcholine and choline in honey bee (Apis mellifera) worker brood food are seasonal and age-dependent - PubMed

Acetylcholine and choline in honey bee (Apis mellifera) worker brood food are seasonal and age-dependent

Paul Siefert et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Nursing honeybees produce brood food with millimolar concentrations of acetylcholine (ACh), which is synthesized through head gland secretions mixed with honey stomach contents. While we previously demonstrated the necessity of ACh for proper larval development, the dynamics of ACh levels throughout ontogenesis and their seasonal variations have remained unclear until now. Our HPLC analysis reveals dependencies of choline and ACh levels on larval development days (LDDs), influenced by seasonal (April-September) variations. Median ACh concentrations peak on LDD 2, declining significantly toward cell capping, while choline levels are lowest during the initial LDDs, rising markedly toward cell capping. Seasonal patterns show peak ACh levels from April to June and a low in August, paralleling choline’s peak in July and low in August. This seasonality holds consistently across multiple years (2020-2022) and colonies, despite potential variations in colony performance and environmental conditions. Our analysis found no correlation between temperature, sunshine, precipitation, or favourable foraging days and ACh/choline levels, suggesting the involvement of additional factors. These findings underscore the seasonal fluctuation of ACh levels and its potential implications for the genetic programs governing winter bee development.

Keywords: ACh; Brood food; Larval development; Nursing; Nutrition; Seasonality.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Tauber, M. J., Tauber, C. A. & Masaki, S. Seasonal adaptations of insects (Oxford University Press, 1986).
    1. Bell, W. J. Searching behavior patterns in insects. Annu. Rev. Entomol. 35, 447–467 (1990). – DOI
    1. Cho, L., Yoon, J. & An, G. The control of flowering time by environmental factors. Plant J. 90, 708–719 (2017). – PubMed – DOI
    1. Winston, M. L. The biology of the honey bee. (Harvard University Press, 1987).
    1. Seeley, T. D., Camazine, S. & Sneyd, J. Collective decision-making in honey bees: how colonies choose among nectar sources. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 28, 277–290 (1991). – DOI

MeSH terms

Substances

Grants and funding

BLACK HAWK: Best shilajit supplement for men

Read the original publication:

Acetylcholine and choline in honey bee (Apis mellifera) worker brood food are seasonal and age-dependent – PubMed