title: Infections with the Sexually Transmitted Pathogen Nosema apis Trigger an Immune Response in the Seminal Fluid of Honey Bees (Apis mellifera).
abstract: Honey bee (Apis mellifera) males are highly susceptible to infections with the sexually transmitted fungal pathogen Nosema apis. However, they are able to suppress this parasite in the ejaculate using immune molecules in the seminal fluid. We predicted that males respond to infections by altering the seminal fluid proteome to minimize the risk to sexually transmit the parasite to the queen and her colony. We used iTRAQ isotopic labeling to compare seminal fluid proteins from infected and noninfected males and found that N. apis infections resulted in significant abundance changes in 111 of the 260 seminal fluid proteins quantitated. The largest group of proteins with significantly changed abundances consisted of 15 proteins with well-known immune-related functions, which included two significantly more abundant chitinases in the seminal fluid of infected males. Chitinases were previously hypothesized to be involved in honey bee antifungal activity against N. apis. Here we show that infection with N. apis triggers a highly specific immune response in the seminal fluid of honey bee males.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Integrative Bee Research (CIBER) and ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology and ‡School of Animal Biology, The University of Western Australia , Bayliss Building, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Grassl
authors.affiliation: Centre for Integrative Bee Research (CIBER) and ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology and ‡School of Animal Biology, The University of Western Australia , Bayliss Building, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: Centre for Integrative Bee Research (CIBER) and ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology and ‡School of Animal Biology, The University of Western Australia , Bayliss Building, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Baer-Imhoof
authors.affiliation: Centre for Integrative Bee Research (CIBER) and ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology and ‡School of Animal Biology, The University of Western Australia , Bayliss Building, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.
authors.forename: Mat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Welch
authors.affiliation: Centre for Integrative Bee Research (CIBER) and ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology and ‡School of Animal Biology, The University of Western Australia , Bayliss Building, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.
authors.forename: A Harvey
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Millar
authors.affiliation: Centre for Integrative Bee Research (CIBER) and ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology and ‡School of Animal Biology, The University of Western Australia , Bayliss Building, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.
authors.forename: Boris
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Baer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001516:Bees / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology; D002688:Chitinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D060467:Disease Resistance / Q000235:genetics*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000276:immunology; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D007113:Immunity, Innate; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D058977:Molecular Sequence Annotation; D016818:Nosema / Q000254:growth & development / Q000276:immunology*; D020543:Proteome / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D012661:Semen / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology; D013172:Spores, Fungal / Q000254:growth & development / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D019476:Insect Proteins; D020543:Proteome; D002688:Chitinases
keywords: antimicrobial proteins; fertility; host parasite interactions; proteomics; sexually transmitted disease