Nitric oxide and abscisic acid: key signalling molecules of nutrition and immunity in Apis mellifera.

NEGRI PEDRO; RAMÍREZ LEONOR; SZWARSKI NICOLÁS; MAGGI MATÍAS; EGUARAS MARTÍN; LAMATTINA LORENZO

Mar del Plata

Congreso; 51 Annual Meeting Argentine Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; 2015

Since many years, honeybee (Apis mellifera) colonies are threatened by different stress factors around the worldresulting in a declination of their population. As a consequence, understanding honeybee defences to confront theirthreats is a priority. The importance of nutrition on bee?s health has been demonstrated and become a topic ofconcern. Through a series of correlative reports, we have previously demonstrated that nitric oxide (NO) plays a rolein wound healing and encapsulation responses, including the activation of melanin formation and the recognition of aforeign surface in larvae and adult honeybees. More recently, we reported that abscisic acid (ABA), a naturaloccurring compound in honeybees, also participates in the cellular responses of A. mellifera enhancing the woundhealing process. Here we show that, as occur in animal cells, ABA induces the NO formation in honeybee. We alsodemonstrate that L-arginine (the natural substrate for NO production in animal cells) and ABA can be used as naturalsupplements in the honeybee diet by beekeepers improving the health condition of A. mellifera?s colonies, addingfurther evidence on the importance of nutrition in the bee?s immune fitness. We shall present results supporting aconnection between NO and ABA signalling in A. mellifera?s immune response