skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Search for: All records

Creators/Authors contains: "Rukowski, Danielle"

Note: When clicking on a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) number, you will be taken to an external site maintained by the publisher. Some full text articles may not yet be available without a charge during the embargo (administrative interval).
What is a DOI Number?

Some links on this page may take you to non-federal websites. Their policies may differ from this site.

  1. Abstract Bumble bees can benefit from fungi, though the mechanisms underlying these benefits remain unknown and could include nutrition, resource supplementation, or pathogen protection. We tested how adding living yeasts or their metabolic products toBombus impatiensdiets in a factorial experiment affects microcolony performance, including survival, reproduction, and pathogen presence. We additionally assessed effects of yeast treatments on diet (nectar and pollen) chemical composition using untargeted metabolomics. Yeasts impacted microcolony reproduction and survival, but effects depended on source colony. Colonies containing the putative pathogenAspergillusshowed reduced reproduction, but yeast treatments reducedAspergillusprevalence. Yeast treatments altered chemical composition of nectar and pollen, but most distinguishing compounds were unidentified. Our results suggest limited direct effects of yeasts via nutrition, resource supplementation, or modification of diets, instead suggesting that yeasts may benefit bees through interactions with the pathogens includingAspergillus. Overall, the effects of yeast supplementation are context-dependent, and more research is necessary to better understand the factors important in determining their impacts on bee hosts. 
    more » « less