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. 2021 Mar 25;12(4):282.
doi: 10.3390/insects12040282.

Potential of Fumagillin and Agaricus blazei Mushroom Extract to Reduce Nosema ceranae in Honey Bees

Uros Glavinic  1 , Jevrosima Stevanovic  1 , Marko Ristanic  1 , Milan Rajkovic  1 , Dajana Davitkov  2 , Nada Lakic  3 , Zoran Stanimirovic  1
Affiliations

Potential of Fumagillin and Agaricus blazei Mushroom Extract to Reduce Nosema ceranae in Honey Bees

Uros Glavinic et al. Insects. .

Abstract

Depending on the infection level and colony strength, Nosema ceranae, a microsporidian endoparasite of the honey bee may have significant consequences on the health, reproduction and productivity of bee colonies. Despite exerting some side effects, fumagillin is most often used for Nosema control. In this study, in a cage experiment, N. ceranae infected bees were treated with fumagillin or the extract of Agaricus blazei mushroom, a possible alternative for Nosema control. Bee survival, Nosema spore loads, the expression levels of immune-related genes and parameters of oxidative stress were observed. Fumagillin treatment showed a negative effect on monitored parameters when applied preventively to non-infected bees, while a noticeable anti-Nosema effect and protection from Nosema-induced immunosuppression and oxidative stress were proven in Nosema-infected bees. However, a protective effect of the natural A. blazei extract was detected, without any side effects but with immunostimulatory activity in the preventive application. The results of this research suggest the potential of A. blazei extract for Nosema control, which needs to be further investigated.

Keywords: Agaricus blazei; Nosema ceranae; antioxidative protection; fumagillin; honey bee; immune-related gene expression; immunostimulation; mushroom extract.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Frames with sealed brood placed in net bags [27].
Figure 2
Figure 2
Effects of treatment with fumagillin and A. blazei extract on the survival rate of N. ceranae infected bees. Survival rate was based on the daily accumulated mortality. The comparison was made between the non-infected control (NI), N. ceranae infected control (I) and groups infected and treated with fumagillin from day 1 (I-F1), day 3 (I-F3) and day 6 (I-F6) or A. blazei extract from day 1 (I-AB1), day 3 (I-AB3) and day 6 (I-AB6). Group names are indicated in Table 1.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Nosema spore loads in infected control (I) and groups infected and treated with fumagillin from day 1 (I-F1), day 3 (I-F3) and day 6 (I-F6) or A. blazei extract from day 1 (I-AB1), day 3 (I-AB3) and day 6 (I-AB6). Group names are indicated in Table 1. Groups labelled with the same letter did not differ significantly. The same font size (lowercase or uppercase) refers to the same time point.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Heatmaps: (A) mean values for superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione S-transferase (GST) activities and malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration; (B) immune-related genes (medians of Log2 of relative expression ratios for abaecin, hymenoptaecin, defensin, apidaecin and vitellogenin) at different time points in experimental groups. Non-infected control (NI), N. ceranae infected control (I) and groups infected and treated with fumagillin from day 1 (I-F1), day 3 (I-F3) and day 6 (I-F6) or A. blazei extract from day 1 (I-AB1), day 3 (I-AB3) and day 6 (I-AB6). Group names are indicated in Table 1.
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