Greetings

Now, I grant you that a lot of what I have been talking about is new
and in some cases, poorly understood. But much of it is not new. For
example, we already knew that despite the fact that workers and queens
have identical eggs (and dna) they develop into completely different
types of bees, as a result of differences in the composition of their
diets.

Further, some people have noted that even the workers may be divided
into castes with profound physical differences, again cause by what
they consume. That is, short-lived foragers vs long-lived winter bees.
In bumble bees there are also summer bees and queens that overwinter
alone. In other insects, such as ants, caste differences are even more
profound.

The effort to alter the honey bee has been ongoing and resulted in one
of the most remarkable failed experiments in history, the introduction
of the African bee to America. But the motive was correct; the
European bee lacked the vigor to thrive in the tropics and Warwick
Kerr desired to produce an African European cross. Unfortunately, the
African bee became an unstoppable invasive pest wherever it went.

So imagine, if you will, if behaviors can be regulated through
substances introduced into the diet and if changes these can be passed
on via heredity. If the appropriate "switches" could be found, a bee
could be raised with improved hygienic behavior. Further, if behaviors
are regulated via gene expression, then the bad behavioral qualities
like aggressive stinging and excessive swarming could be
down-regulated.

If the behavior turns out to have negative side effects, it could be
switched off as readily as it was switched on. Geneticists already
know how to insert genetic material that can be subsequently switched
on or off. We have seen that honeybees can revert to nursing even
after they have been employed as foragers. They can even perform some
queen-like functions such as egg laying and the production of
pheromones.

* * *

More on gene expression in the bee and its relation to bee health

> Varroa parasitism caused changes in the expression of genes related to embryonic development, cell metabolism and immunity. Bees tolerant to Varroa were mainly characterized by differences in the expression of genes regulating neuronal development, neuronal sensitivity and olfaction.

> Differences in olfaction and sensitivity to stimuli are two parameters that could, at least in part, account for bee tolerance to Varroa; differences in olfaction may be related to increased grooming and hygienic behavior, important behaviors known to be involved in Varroa tolerance.

> These results suggest that differences in behavior, rather than in the immune system, underlie Varroa tolerance in honey bees, and give an indication of the specific physiological changes found in parasitized bees. They provide a first step toward better understanding molecular pathways involved in this important host-parasite relationship.

-- 

"Differential gene expression of the honey bee Apis mellifera
associated with Varroa destructor infection"
M Navajas, et al, in: BMC Genomics. Research article Open Access

This article is available from: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2164/9/301

* * *

From the good news department: not all chemicals are bad!

> Evidence suggests that a diet high in fruits and vegetables may decrease the risk of chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease and cancer, and phytochemicals including phenolics, flavonoids and carotenoids from fruits and vegetables may play a key role in reducing chronic disease risk.

> Apples are a widely consumed, rich source of phytochemicals, and epidemiological studies have linked the consumption of apples with reduced risk of some cancers, cardiovascular disease, asthma, and diabetes. In the laboratory, apples have been found to have very strong antioxidant activity, inhibit cancer cell proliferation, decrease lipid oxidation, and lower cholesterol.

> Apples contain a variety of phytochemicals, including quercetin, catechin, phloridzin and chlorogenic acid, all of which are strong antioxidants. The phytochemical composition of apples varies greatly between different varieties of apples, and there are also small changes in phytochemicals during the maturation and ripening of the fruit. Storage has little to no effect on apple phytochemicals, but processing can greatly affect apple phytochemicals.

-- 
Apple phytochemicals and their health benefits
Jeanelle Boyer and Rui Hai Liu

Department of Food Science and Institute of Comparative and
Environmental Toxicology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
14853-7201 USA

The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be
found online at: http://www.nutritionj.com/content/3/1/5

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