A yellow-banded bee. Credit: Victoria MacPhail (Graduate at York University Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change), who is the author of the paper.What is causing bumblebees to be stressed? York University scientists used next generation sequencing to examine the bumblebees deep for signs of pesticide exposure. They also found evidence of pathogens and neonicotinoids.A conservation genomic approach is an emerging field of research that could dramatically change how bee health and safety are assessed. The researchers looked at Bombus terricola, the yellow-banded honeybee, which is native to North America. They also studied non-agricultural and agricultural areas. Scientists can now probe invisible stressors that affect bees with this new technique.The yellow-banded bee, like many other pollinators has seen major declines over the past two decades. This threatens food security as well as the stability of natural ecosystems."Next-generation sequencing offers a completely new way of thinking about why bees decline, which could revolutionize conservation biology. To find out what stressors are affecting the bee, we're directly looking at bee tissue. This is going to be a major breakthrough. We can now implicate two of the most obvious things we have talked about for years- pesticides and pathogensin the case of Bombus.terricola," said Professor Amro Zyed, Faculty of Science, and the corresponding author of this study.Credit: York UniversityResearchers sequenced the RNA from 30 yellow-banded worker honey bees. They also used the sequence data for direct search for pathogens infecting the Bumblebees. The researchers found five pathogens within the abdomens of worker honey bees. Three of these are also common in managed honeybee and bumblebee colonies. This confirms the idea that wild bees can become sick from exposure to pathogens in commercial operations.The technology's effectiveness surprised Nadia Tsvetkov, a former York biology student, and Associate Professor Sheila Colla, Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change.Colla says that bumblebee diseases pose a major threat. This technology can be used to quickly detect new diseases or stressors so we don’t lose species in the same way as we did with the rusty-patched Bumblebee. The problem was only discovered when it was too late to take action in Canada. Colla says that the rusty-patched Bumblebee has not been seen in Canada since 2009.A yellow-banded bee eating goldenrod. Credit: Victoria MacPhail (Graduate at York University Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change), who is the author of this paper.Because they can buzz pollinate plants (vibrate them to release pollen), and are able to tolerate cold temperatures, bees are critical pollinators for specific plants and regions.The scope of conservation genomics studies should be expanded to allow for better understanding of how multiple stressors affect the health of other bumblebee population.Zayed says, "We believe this is the best way forward to manage and conserve bumblebees."Continue reading. Inbreeding, disease and other factors are contributing to the decline of yellow-banded beesMore information: Nadejda Tsvetkov and colleagues, Conservation genomics reveals pesticides and pathogens in the declining bumblebee Bombus terricola. Molecular Ecology (2021). Information from the Journal: Molecular Ecology Nadejda Tsvetkov et. al. Conservation genomics reveals pesticides and pathogens in the declining bumblebee Bombus terricola (2021). DOI: 10.111/mec.16049
