蜜蜂通过肠道微生物气味识别彼此

This is Scientific American’s 60-Second Science. I’m Shahla Farzan.

这里是科学美国人——60秒科学系列，我是沙拉·法尔赞。

Every honeybee colony has its own unique scent like a fingerprint.

每个蜂群都有自己独特的气味，就像指纹是每个人独有的一样。

And bees use that scent to recognize their nest mates—basically saying, “You smell like me, so I’m going to let you into the colony.”

蜜蜂用这种气味来识别它们的巢友--基本上是在说，“你闻起来像我，所以我要让你进入蜂巢。”

But here’s the mystery: If you transfer a baby bee into a new hive, not only does the colony accept it, but that bee will eventually smell like its adopted nest mates—even though they’re not genetically related.

但这里有一个谜团：如果你把一只幼蜂转移到一个新的蜂巢，不仅蜂群会接受它，而且这只幼蜂最终会闻起来像接受它的巢友的味道--即使它们没有基因上的关联。

“This kind of got us thinking, ‘Perhaps it’s not actually the genetics of the bee; it’s actually the genetics of microbes that live within the bee.’”

“这让我们想到，‘也许这实际上不是蜜蜂的基因，而是蜜蜂体内的微生物的基因在起作用。’”

Cassondra Vernier is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Illinois.

卡森德拉·维尼尔是伊利诺伊大学博士后研究员。

She knew gut microbes could affect the scent and communication of other animals, like hyenas.

她知道肠道微生物会影响其他动物的气味和交流活动，比如鬣狗。

So she and her co-authors designed a series of experiments to test whether microbes also change the scent compounds coating the outside of honeybees, known as cuticular hydrocarbons.

因此，她和她的合著者设计了一系列实验，以测试微生物是否也会改变覆盖在蜜蜂外部的气味混合物，即所谓的表皮碳氢化合物。

In one experiment, they fed different gut microbes to newly hatched sister bees.

在一项实验中，他们给刚孵化出的蜜蜂妹妹喂食了不同的肠道微生物。

The bees developed distinct microbiomes—and they also produced different cuticular hydrocarbon scents.

蜜蜂产生了不同的微生物群--它们也产生了不同的表皮碳氢化合物气味。

But On the other hand ...

但另一方面...

“If they were treated with different inoculums, they recognized each other as non-nest mates.

如果它们接种不同的培养液，那么它们会将彼此识别为非巢友。

And they attacked each other, usually in the form of biting each other.”

它们会互相攻击，通常是以撕咬对方的形式进行。”

In other words, bees from the same colony did not recognize each other when they had different gut microbes.

换句话说，当来自同一个蜂群的蜜蜂拥有不同的肠道微生物时，它们会无法识别彼此。

Washington University biology professor and co-author Yehuda Ben-Shahar says the microbes are changing the bees physiologically and controlling their complicated social behaviors.

华盛顿大学生物学教授兼合著者耶胡达·本·沙哈尔表示，这些微生物正在从生理上改变蜜蜂，并控制它们复杂的社会行为。

But he adds this relationship is mutually beneficial for the bacteria and the bees.

但他补充说，这种关系对菌群和蜜蜂都是有利的。

“The bees have to have some of these bacteria, so you have a system where this relationship serves the biology of both the bacteria and the host. ”

“蜜蜂必须拥有一些这样的菌群，所以就会有一个系统，在这个系统中，这种关系既服务于菌群的生物学，也服务于宿主的生物学。”

Being able to distinguish nest mates from invaders is absolutely critical, Ben-Shahar says.

本-沙哈尔说，能够从入侵者中区分出巢友是绝对关键的。

Without that ability, bees would be vulnerable to nest parasites—and to other bees looking to steal their most precious commodity: honey.

如果丧失这种能力，那么蜜蜂会很容易受到巢中寄生生物的攻击--以及其他试图窃取它们最宝贵的物品蜂蜜的蜜蜂的攻击。

And so the entrance fee must be paid—not in dollars but in scents.

因此，入场费必须用气味支付--而非美元。

For Scientific American’s 60-Second Science, I’m Shahla Farzan.

谢谢大家收听科学美国人——60秒科学。我是沙拉·法尔赞。