Integrated Assessment of Pollen Substitute Diets in Honey Bees Based on Transcriptional Responses, Immune-Derived Predicted Biological Age, and Survival.
- 1Department of Life Sciences & Convergence Research Center for Insect Vectors (CRCIV), Incheon National University R&D Complex, 265 Harmony-ro, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon 22014, Republic of Korea.
- 2Apiculture Division, Department of Agricultural Biology, National Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Rural Development Administration (RDA), Wanju 55365, Republic of Korea.
- 3Department of SmartBio, College of Life and Health Science, Kyungsung University, Busan 48434, Republic of Korea.
Abstract
Heat events and nutritional stress threaten honey bee health, but how pollen substitute formulation shapes responses to acute heat remains unclear. Newly emerged Apis mellifera workers received three pollen substitute diets or two beebread-based reference diets for five days before exposure to 45 °C for 4 h. Expression of 12 genes related to nutrition, endocrine regulation, immunity, oxidative defense, and cellular stress was examined using mixed-effects and multivariate analyses. Immune-derived predicted biological age was estimated before and after heat exposure. Apparent consumption and survival were evaluated in an independent 18-day feeding assay without heat. Significant diet × heat interactions occurred for 10 genes, whereas tor and dome showed no significant interactions. At baseline, Diet2(M) exhibited a transcriptional profile similar to the control and a lower predicted biological age than Diet1(S) and Diet3(O). Diet2(M) also supported higher survival than Diet1(S), despite similar apparent consumption among substitute diets. These findings indicate that pollen substitute composition, rather than apparent consumption alone, can shape physiology and survival. Diet2(M) is therefore a priority candidate for colony-level evaluation, although improved heat tolerance was not demonstrated. These findings may guide the development of supplemental feeds supporting honey bee health under climate-related pollen scarcity and heat risk.
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BibTeX
@article{kim2026integrated,
title = {{Integrated Assessment of Pollen Substitute Diets in Honey Bees Based on Transcriptional Responses, Immune-Derived Predicted Biological Age, and Survival.}},
author = {Hyunjee Kim and Olga Frunze and Sang Mi Han and Soon Ok Woo and Jewon Jung and Hyung-Wook Kwon},
journal = {Animals : an open access journal from MDPI},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3390/ani16193147},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42883116},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Integrated Assessment of Pollen Substitute Diets in Honey Bees Based on Transcriptional Responses, Immune-Derived Predicted Biological Age, and Survival.
AU - Hyunjee Kim
AU - Olga Frunze
AU - Sang Mi Han
AU - Soon Ok Woo
AU - Jewon Jung
AU - Hyung-Wook Kwon
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/08
JO - Animals : an open access journal from MDPI
DO - 10.3390/ani16193147
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42883116
AB - Heat events and nutritional stress threaten honey bee health, but how pollen substitute formulation shapes responses to acute heat remains unclear. Newly emerged Apis mellifera workers received three pollen substitute diets or two beebread-based reference diets for five days before exposure to 45 °C for 4 h. Expression of 12 genes related to nutrition, endocrine regulation, immunity, oxidative defense, and cellular stress was examined using mixed-effects and multivariate analyses. Immune-derived predicted biological age was estimated before and after heat exposure. Apparent consumption and survival were evaluated in an independent 18-day feeding assay without heat. Significant diet × heat interactions occurred for 10 genes, whereas tor and dome showed no significant interactions. At baseline, Diet2(M) exhibited a transcriptional profile similar to the control and a lower predicted biological age than Diet1(S) and Diet3(O). Diet2(M) also supported higher survival than Diet1(S), despite similar apparent consumption among substitute diets. These findings indicate that pollen substitute composition, rather than apparent consumption alone, can shape physiology and survival. Diet2(M) is therefore a priority candidate for colony-level evaluation, although improved heat tolerance was not demonstrated. These findings may guide the development of supplemental feeds supporting honey bee health under climate-related pollen scarcity and heat risk.
SN - 2076-2615
ER -