Genomic architecture and sexually dimorphic expression underlying immunity in the red mason bee, Osmia bicornis

Abstract

Insect pollinators provide crucial ecosystem services yet face increasing environmental pressures. The challenges posed by novel and reemerging pathogens on bee health means we need to improve our understanding of the immune system, an important barrier to infections and disease. Despite the importance of solitary bees, which are ecologically relevant, our understanding of the genomic basis and molecular mechanisms underlying their immune potential, and how intrinsic and extrinsic factors may influence it is limited. To improve our understanding of the genomic architecture underlying immunity of a key solitary bee pollinator, we characterized putative immune genes of the red mason bee, Osmia bicornis. In addition, we used publicly available RNA-seq datasets to determine how sexes differ in immune gene expression and splicing but also how pesticide exposure may affect immune gene expression in females. Through comparative genomics, we reveal an evolutionarily conserved set of more than 500 putative immune-related genes. We found genome-wide patterns of sex-biased gene expression, with greater enrichment of immune-related processes among genes with higher constitutive expression in males than females. Our results also suggest an up-regulation of immune-related genes in response to exposure to two common neonicotinoids, thiacloprid and imidacloprid. Collectively, our study provides important insights into the gene repertoire, regulation and expression differences in the sexes of O. bicornis, as well as providing additional support for how neonicotinoids can affect immune gene expression, which may affect the capacity of solitary bees to respond to pathogenic threats.