Differential bumble bee gene expression associated with pathogen infection and pollen diet

Recently, it was discovered that consumption of sunflower (Helianthus annuus) pollen reduced severity of gut protozoan pathogen Crithidia bombi infection in Bombus impatiens bumble bees. Despite the dramatic and consistent medicinal effect of sunflower pollen, very little is known about the mechanism(s) underlying this effect. The goal of this study was to analyze whole genome transcriptomes of bumble bee workers to characterize the physiological response to sunflower pollen consumption and parasite infection so as to isolate the mechanisms underlying the medicinal effect of sunflower pollen. Bombus impatiens workers were inoculated with either parasite cells (infected) or a sham control (un-infected) and fed either sunflower or wildflower pollen ad libitum. Whole abdominal gene expression profiles were then sequenced with Illumina NextSeq 500 technology.