Jiandong An

Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences | CAAS · Institute of Apicultural Research

Worldwide, there is increasing evidence that shows a decline in pollinators, limiting crop pollination and production. However, it is unclear to what extent Chinese agriculture could be impacted by pollinator deficits. Data for 84 major crops in China between 1961 and 2018 were analyzed for the temporal trends in crop area and production, agricultu...

Evidence of a decline in wild pollinators is increasing across global and local habitats. However, with regional variation, the number of managed pollinators has increased globally. Whether these managed pollinators can sufficiently meet the agricultural pollination demand given wild pollinator declines remains unclear. Data on 49 honeybee-pollinat...

Bumblebee pollination is crucial to the production of tomato in protected cultivation. Both tomato yield and flavor play important roles in attracting attentions from growers and consumers. Compared with yield, much less work has been conducted to investigate whether and how pollination methods affect tomato flavor. In this study, the effects of bu...

Pollinators play a key role in agricultural and natural ecosystems, but their biodiversity is highly vulnerable to the impact of environmental changes. Here, we evaluated the distributional responses of 29 bumblebee species endemic to East Asia to future (2050s and 2070s) climate and land cover changes, and 17-27 (59-93 %) of the species exhibited...

For the conservation of wild pollinators, instead of surveying the whole community, one or more indicator species can be used as monitoring targets for long-term conservation. China, the richest country in terms of bumblebee species with 125 species, was selected here to investigate the indicator species of the different biogeographic regions of bu...

The influence of gene expression on female caste determination in social Hymenoptera is one of the best-characterized examples of developmental polyphenism. We used mRNA-seq to profile differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between workers and queens at four development stages (early larvae: 1-day-old larvae; mid larvae: 5-day-old larvae; late larva...

Understanding the influence of factors responsible for shaping community assemblage is crucial for biodiversity management and conservation. Gansu is one of the richest regions for bumblebee species in the world. We explored the distribution data of 52 bumblebee species collected in Gansu and its surroundings between 2002 and 2022, predicting habit...

Pollinators provide important pollination services for crops around the world. In China, numerous studies have been conducted on pollinators within agroecosystems, yet a comprehensive review of such research remains to be completed. This study discusses the existing knowledge of pollinator diversity in Chinese agroecosystems, examines the provision...

Pollen is a major source of proteins and lipids for bumblebees. The nutritional content of pollen may differ from source plants, ultimately affecting colony development. This study investigated the foraging preferences of Bombus terrestris in regard to four pollen species, i.e., oilseed rape, wild apricot, sunflower, and buckwheat, under laboratory...

Simple Summary Our study investigated the dynamics of pathogen communities within Chinese bumblebee populations, a key issue for understanding emerging infectious diseases and their impacts on insect biodiversity loss. By employing computational modeling on extensive pathogen data from bumblebees, we uncover that the host species variation signific...

The mountain bumblebees of the subgenus Alpigenobombus Skorikov, 1914, are uniquely distinctive because the females have enlarged mandibles with six large, evenly spaced teeth, which they use to bite holes in long-corolla flowers for nectar robbing. Recognition of species in this subgenus has been uncertain, with names used in various combinations....

The bumblebee, Bombus ignitus (Hymenoptera, Apidae), plays a vital role in pollination in Northeast Asia, including Korea, China, Japan, and Far East Russia. Understanding the genetic makeup of the population can aid in its conservation. This study explores the DNA barcode region of cytochrome C oxidase subunit I (COI) of B. ignitus in commercial p...

Host symbionts are often considered an essential part of the host phenotype, influencing host growth and development. Bumble bee is an ideal model for investigating the relationship between microbiota and phenotypes. Variations in life history across bumble bees may influence the community composition of gut microbiota, which in turn influences phe...

Honeybees (Apis mellifera) are critical to maintaining ecological balance and are important pollinators. The oviposition behavior in honeybees is important and complex. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are found to form circRNA-miRNA crosstalk and play important roles in reproduction processes. Here, dual luciferase reporter was used to confirm the crossta...

In the current era, products made from organic materials enjoy a privileged position because of their inherent safety. The eco-friendly properties of natural lac resins have increased their demand in many industries. It is secreted by sucking insects (Hemiptera, Kerriidae) and comprises three major components, viz., resin, dye, and wax. Lac insects...

This is an eletter to comment on Ma's letter (Science 377, 6610).

As vital pollinators, bumble bees play an important role in ecology and agricultural economy, but the decline in diversity and abundance has received widespread attention. Bumble bees of the subgenus Psithyrus are obligate social parasites that invade the nests of other bumble bees as part of their life cycle. This dependency on other colonies may...

The managed bumblebee Bombus terrestris L. (Hymenoptera: Apidae) has become established on multiple continents and various islands globally, potentially impacting fauna and flora alike. Its introduction could prove especially problematic in Asia, where bumblebee biodiversity is the highest worldwide. Here, we report the active, unregulated commerci...

Queen-worker conflict over the reproduction of males exists in the majority of haplodiplioidy hymenpteran species such as bees, wasps, and ants, whose workers lose mating ability but can produce haploid males in colony. Bumblebee is one of the representatives of primitively eusocial insects with plastic division labor and belongs to monandrous and...

Pollinator decline has attracted global attention and substantial efforts are underway to respond through national pollinator strategies and action plans. These policy responses require clarity on what is driving pollinator decline and what risks it generates for society in different parts of the world. Using a formal expert elicitation process, we...

Background & Aims: Pollinators are declining worldwide and there is a global concern about how to conserve pollination services of agroforestry ecosystems. In theory, the pollination services are determined not only by the level of pollinator diversity but also by the adaptive capability of pollinator communities against disturbances. Recently, res...

Bumblebees and honeybees are very important pollinators and play a vital role in agricultural and natural ecosystems. The quality of their colonies is determined by the queens and the reproductive drones of mother colonies, and mated drones transmit semen, including half of the genetic materials, to queens and enhance their fertility. Therefore, fa...

Bumblebees are important pollinators for many wild plants and crops. However, the bumblebee populations are seriously declining in many parts of the world. Hence, the bumblebee conservation strategy should be urgently addressed, and the species distribution modeling approach can effectively evaluate the potentially suitable areas for their conserva...

While an increasing number of studies indicate that the range, diversity and abundance of many wild pollinators has declined, the global area of pollinator-dependent crops has significantly increased over the last few decades. Crop pollination studies to date have mainly focused on either identifying different guilds pollinating various crops, or o...

Pollinator decline has attracted global attention, and substantial efforts are underway to respond, through national pollinator strategies and action plans. These policy responses require clarity on what is driving pollinator decline, and what risks it generates for society, in different parts of the world. Using a formal expert elicitation process...

Bombus pyrosoma is one of the most abundant bumblebee species in China, with a distribution range of very varied geomorphology and vegetation, which makes it an ideal pollinator species for research into high-altitude adaptation. Here, we sequenced and assembled transcriptomes of B. pyrosoma from the low-altitude North China Plain and the high-alti...

China has many habitats supporting a wide diversity of bumblebees, some species of which are limited in distribution to the Tibet Plateau. The high-altitude Tibet Plateau, which has low air density as well as extremely low temperatures, strains the energy requirements for flight in most insects. However, high-altitude bumblebees have adapted to the...

Peptidoglycan recognition proteins (PGRPs) play an important role in the defense against invading microbes via the recognition of the immunogenic substance peptidoglycan (PGN). Bees possess fewer PGRPs than Drosophila melanogaster and Anopheles gambiae but retain two important immune pathways, the Toll pathway and the Imd pathway, which can be trig...

This study compared the food plants, life cycle, colony development, and mating behaviour of the two Asian bumblebee species Bombus friseanus and B. breviceps, which are very important pollinators for many wild flowers and crops in local ecosystems. Both species were shown to be highly polylectic. Differences were observed in their life cycles and...

Bumblebees are important insect pollinators for many wildflowers and crops. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are endogenous non-coding small RNAs that regulate different biological functions in insects. In this study, the miRNAs in the heads of the three castes of the bumblebee Bombus lantschouensis were identified and characterized by small RNA deep sequencing....

PGRP-LC is a significant pattern recognition receptor of the insect innate immune system that can recognize peptidoglycans and activate immune signaling pathways regulating the expression and release of antimicrobial peptides against infection. We for the first time analyzed the phylogenetic tree, purification and structure of bumblebee PGRP-LC. Th...

Pollen is important not only for pollination and fertilization of plants, but also for colony development of bee pollinators. Anther dehiscence determines the available pollen that can be collected by foragers. In China, honeybees and bumblebees are widely used as pollinators in solar greenhouse agriculture. To better understand the effect of solar...

Bombus bicoloratus is an important pollinator of wild flowers in the oriental region. We confirmed a total of 451 specimens of B. bicoloratus from China based on DNA sequences from mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) barcodes. Bombus bicoloratus is distributed mainly in tropical and subtropical areas of southern China. This species exh...

Landscape composition is assumed to modify spatial foraging patterns of bees in agricultural ecosystems which subsequently influence pollination services provided to crops. However, empirical evidence to support this prediction is scarce. We investigated the influences of semi-natural habitats and nesting resources on concentration effect and wayla...

Bees, wasps, and ants are among the most highly invasive social insects. Theoretically, the single-locus complementary sex determination (sl-CSD) would hinder the establishment of invasive population with limited founders. Apis cerana has colonized many regions with anthropogenic movement, with devastating effects on the commercial A. mellifera. He...

Bees, wasps, and ants are among the most highly invasive social insects. Theoretically, the single-locus complementary sex determination (sl-CSD) would hinder the establishment of invasive population with limited founders. Apis cerana has colonized many regions with anthropogenic movement, with devastating effects on the commercial A. mellifera. He...

The peptidoglycan recognition protein SAs (PGRP-SAs) from Bombus ignitus (Bi-PGRP-SA), Apis mellifera (Am-PGRP-SA), and Megachile rotundata PGRP-SA (Mr-PGRP-SA) exhibit an intrinsic ability to preferentially bind to Dap-type peptidoglycan (PGN) from Bacillus subtilis rather than Lys-type PGN from Micrococcus luteus. This ability is more analogous t...

Invasive species such as Bombus terrestris represent a severe threat that can result in the decline of local biodiversity. We examined the habitat suitability for B. terrestris invasion in East Asian countries and the risk of habitat overlap with 24 bumblebee species from different groups in China. All East Asian countries were predicted to be susc...

Bumblebees are important pollinators of many wild flowers and crops and play a significant role in maintaining natural and agricultural ecosystems. The varied geomorphology and vegetation of China makes it the greatest hotspot of bumblebee diversity in the world. However, the bumblebee fauna of China has been insufficiently studied. Here, we report...

Bumblebee pollination efficiency is significantly affected by colony size, which differs among different bumblebee species. Bumblebee colonies are initiated by a single queen; thus queen traits have an important influence on colony development. To make better use of native bumblebee species and select bumblebee species for commercial rearing, queen...

【Aim】 Alien species may interfere with the normal reproduction of the closely related native species through mating competition. Although the European bumblebee, Bombus terrestris, is the most widely used pollinator in the world, it has caused biological invasion in many countries. This study aims to elucidate the possibility of reproductive distur...

Peptidoglycan recognition protein SA (PGRP-SA) is a key pattern recognition receptor in the insect innate immune system. PGRP-SA can bind to bacterial PGN and activate the Toll pathway, which triggers the expression and release of antimicrobial peptides to prevent bacterial infection. Here, we report the first structure of Apis mellifera PGRP-SA fr...

The complete mitochondrial genome of Bombus consobrinus was sequenced. This circular mitogenome is 17,966 bp (86.7% of AT) in length, which contains 22 tRNA genes, 13 protein-coding genes and two rRNA genes. All protein-coding genes are initiated with the typical ATN codon and terminated by TAA codon except an incomplete stop codon T for ND4 gene....

The complete mitochondrial genome of Bombus breviceps, which belongs to the subgenus of Alpigenobombus in Bombus genus, was sequenced. This circular mitogenome is 16,743 bp (83.5% AT) in length, with two rRNA genes, 22 tRNA genes, and 13 protein-coding genes. All protein-coding genes are initiated with the common invertebrate initiation codon excep...

The response diversity theory claims that functional pollinators differently react to environmental change in a range of spatial and/or temporal scales. Diverse responses of pollinators could contribute to the stabilization and resilience of ecosystem pollination functions by the reorganization of pollinator community. To date,however,little remain...

Bumblebees are well known for being among the most important pollinators in the world’s north-temperate regions. Perhaps more surprisingly, half of the world’s bumblebee species are concentrated in just one country, China. With an area only slightly smaller than the US, this has almost three times as many species. Understanding the bumblebees of Ch...

The bumblebees of the subgenus Mendacibombus of the genus Bombus are the sister group to all other extant bumblebees and are unusual among bees for specialising in some of the highest elevation habitats with entomophilous plants on Earth. Most named taxa in this group (24 available names, from a total of 49 published names) were described originall...

More-diverse pollinators improve crop yields It is known that increased pollinator diversity can improve the yield of agricultural crops. However, how best to both produce food and maintain diversity is still debated. Garibaldi et al. show that on small farms, which provide food for the most vulnerable populations globally, pollinator diversity can...

Ecological intensification, or the improvement of crop yield through enhancement of biodiversity, may be a sustainable pathway toward greater food supplies. Such sustainable increases may be especially important for the 2 billion people reliant on small farms, many of which are undernourished, yet we know little about the efficacy of this approach....

Bee species interactions can benefit plant pollination through synergistic effects and complementary effects, or can be of detriment to plant pollination through competition effects by reducing visitation by effective pollinators. Since specific bee interactions influence the foraging performance of bees on flowers, they also act as drivers to regu...

Characteristics of the full and simplified BRT models a. (DOC)

Four instances of honey bees (one, two, three and four honey bees visiting a single squash flower) in the LN habitats. One honey bee (A), two honey bees (B), three honey bees (C) and four honey bees (D). (TIF)

Pearson correlation coefficients among the percentages of the four instances of honey bees (one, two, three, and four honey bees visiting a single squash flower). *** < 0.001; ** < 0.01; * < 0.05; ns: not significant. (DOC)

Megabombus bumblebees have unusually long tongues and are generally more specialised than other bumblebees in their choice of food plants. The phylogeny of Megabombus bumblebees shows that speciation was concentrated in two periods. Speciation in the first period (ca 4.25-1.5 Ma) is associated with the late rise of the Hengduan Mountains at the eas...

Peach Prunus persica (L.) Batsch is self-compatible and largely self-fertile, but under greenhouse conditions pollinators must be introduced to achieve good fruit set and quality. Because little work has been done to assess the effectiveness of different pollinators on peach trees under greenhouse conditions, we studied 'Okubo' peach in greenhouse...

The Tibetan plateau and its immediately surrounding mountains include the greatest hotspot of diversity worldwide for bumblebees, which are among the most important pollinators in temperate ecosystems. We make the first quantitative description of variation in the species composition of alpine social bumblebee faunas across the Tibetan plateau, for...

The Tibetan plateau and its immediately surrounding mountains include the greatest hotspot of diversity world-wide for bumblebees, which are among the most important pollinators in temperate ecosystems. We make the first quantitative description of variation in the species composition of alpine social bumblebee faunas across the Tibetan plateau, fo...

Bumblebees are important pollinators for wild flowers and agricultural crops. North China is a region of varied geomorphology and vegetation, with plateaus, plains, mountains and deserts, and is part of the greatest hotspot of bumblebee diversity worldwide. We report on a field survey of the bumblebees of North China made between 2005-2012. A sampl...

Bombus (Megabombus) koreanus (Skorikov) is a long-tongued bumblebee that specialises in visiting deep flowers. To describe the distribution, colour-pattern variation and food plants of B. koreanus, we collected specimens and DNA cytochrome oxidase I (COI) barcodes were obtained. Bayesian phylogenetic analysis of barcodes for Megabombus species show...

Honey bees and wild bees provide critical pollination services to agricultural ecosystems; however, the relative contributions of different bee taxa are not well understood. The natural habitats surrounding farmland support food and nesting resources for wild bees and therefore play an important role in the maintenance of crop pollination. In this...

Commercial greenhouse growers in both Japan and China are increasingly using reared orange-tailed bumblebees known previously as Bombus hypocrita Pérez as pollinators. Phylogenetic analysis of the DNA (COI) barcodes with Bayesian methods shows that this "species" is a long-standing confusion of two cryptic species. We find that the orange-tailed bu...

Accession numbers for sequence data for the samples used in Fig. 1, including IDs from the BOLD database. (DOC)

Bumblebees of the subgenus Bombus s. str. dominate (or used to dominate) many north temperate pollinator assemblages and include most of the commercial bumblebee pollinator species. Several species are now in serious decline, so conservationists need to know precisely which ones are involved. The problem is that many Bombus s. str. species are cryp...

Bumblebees (Bombus spp.) are important pollinators of many economically important crops and microsporidia are among the most important infections of these hosts. Using molecular markers, we screened a large sample (n=1,009 bees) of workers of 27 different Bombus spp. from China (Sichuan, Qinghai, Inner Mongolia, and Gansu provinces). The results sh...