ArticleGenome biology2015
A depauperate immune repertoire precedes evolution of sociality in bees.
Article in Genome biology, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 67 papers.
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Who cites it
67 citing papers in PubMed.
- Review
- The evolution of the immune system of bees is defined by conservation, expansions, and losses.BMC biology · 2026Article
- A Chromosome-Level Genome Assembly and Resequencing Data Reveal Low DNA Methylation and Reduced Diversity in the Solitary Bee Pollinator Osmia cornuta.Genome biology and evolution · 2026Article
- Insect immune systems: same same but different but still same.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Host-associated beneficial gut microbiota boosts induced immunity and limits immune deployment costs in bumblebees.The Journal of animal ecology · 2026Article
- Molecular Evolution of the NLR Gene Family Reveals Diverse Innate Immune Strategies in Bats.Biomolecules · 2025Article
- Pesticide and Pathogen Exposure Causes Idiosyncratic Gene Expression Responses Across Four Diverse North American Bumble Bee Species.Molecular ecology · 2025Article
- Revealing antagonistic interactions in the adverse effects of polystyrene and poly(methyl methacrylate) microplastics in bumblebees.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2025Article
- Leveraging Transcriptional Signatures of Diverse Stressors for Bumble Bee Conservation.Molecular ecology · 2025Article
- Pathogen-specific social immunity is associated with erosion of individual immune function in an ant.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Mechanisms of Pathogen and Pesticide Resistance in Honey Bees.Physiology (Bethesda, Md.) · 2024Review
- Influence of social lifestyles on host-microbe symbioses in the bees.Ecology and evolution · 2023Article
- Signatures of Adaptation, Constraints, and Potential Redundancy in the Canonical Immune Genes of a Key Pollinator.Genome biology and evolution · 2023Article
- Differential bumble bee gene expression associated with pathogen infection and pollen diet.BMC genomics · 2023Article
- Article
- Double trouble: trypanosomatids with two hosts have lower infection prevalence than single host trypanosomatids.Evolution, medicine, and public health · 2023Article
- Impaired immune function accompanies social evolution in spiders.Biology letters · 2022Article
- Current Knowledge on Bee Innate Immunity Based on Genomics and Transcriptomics.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Review
- Complex networks of parasites and pollinators: moving towards a healthy balance.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2022Review
- Short and long-term costs of inbreeding in the lifelong-partnership in a termite.Communications biology · 2022Article
7 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
24 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSociality has many rewards, but can also be dangerous, as high population density and low genetic diversity, common in social insects, is ideal for parasite transmission. Despite this risk, honeybees and other sequenced social insects have far fewer canonical immune genes relative to solitary insects. Social protection from infection, including behavioral responses, may explain this depauperate immune repertoire. Here, based on full genome sequences, we describe the immune repertoire of two ecologically and commercially important bumblebee species that diverged approximately 18 million years ago, the North American Bombus impatiens and European Bombus terrestris.
resultsWe find that the immune systems of these bumblebees, two species of honeybee, and a solitary leafcutting bee, are strikingly similar. Transcriptional assays confirm the expression of many of these genes in an immunological context and more strongly in young queens than males, affirming Bateman's principle of greater investment in female immunity. We find evidence of positive selection in genes encoding antiviral responses, components of the Toll and JAK/STAT pathways, and serine protease inhibitors in both social and solitary bees. Finally, we detect many genes across pathways that differ in selection between bumblebees and honeybees, or between the social and solitary clades.
conclusionsThe similarity in immune complement across a gradient of sociality suggests that a reduced immune repertoire predates the evolution of sociality in bees. The differences in selection on immune genes likely reflect divergent pressures exerted by parasites across social contexts.
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