Abstract
Background and aims
Pollen is essential for successful plant reproduction and critical for plant-pollinator mutualisms, as pollen is essential larval nutrition. However, we understand very little about the chemical constituents of pollen leading us to this exploratory study characterizing plant and beehive pollen.
Methods
We performed a metabolomics assay of canola flower pollen and beehive pollen.
Results and discussion
The metabolome of canola pollen is affected by irrigation showing differences in lipids and non-polar secondary metabolites. Metabolome of beehive pollen is affected by plant source showing differences in pentose sugars, myo-inositol and furanose. Further research is needed to document the nutritional bases of plant-pollinator mutualism.
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Acknowledgements
Honey bee Health Task Force (North American Pollinator Protection Campaign) and United States Geological Survey grants funded the study. Thanks to Colton O’Brien for help with bee colonies. Proteomics and Metabolomics Facility at Colorado State University analyzed samples, performed data analyses and generated reports that are presented here.
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AHS: study design, data analysis and manuscript preparation. EB&LB: p-coumaric acid analyses and manuscript preparation.
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Arathi, H.S., Bjostad, L. & Bernklau, E. Metabolomic analysis of pollen from honey bee hives and from canola flowers. Metabolomics 14, 86 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11306-018-1381-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11306-018-1381-5