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Akinlaja, Mopelola O.

University of British Columbia

This thesis describes several experiments aiming to improve the understanding of Vairimorpha ceranae’s pathology in the honey bee midgut epithelium. Using high resolution mass spectrometry-based methods, I assessed global changes in the honey bee midgut proteome and phosphoproteome, identifying host processes impacted during infection such as heme binding and carbohydrate metabolism. I also adapted a high throughput mass spectrometry-based protein interaction mapping technique to obtain a first draft of the honey bee midgut protein interaction network. With this resource, I was able to experimentally assemble protein interactions occurring in the host, and some host-pathogen protein interactions in infected samples, providing new insight into protein arrangement in honey bees and how these interactions can change in the context of disease. Finally, I conducted a field-based experiment to evaluate the effects of using a bee product, propolis, to treat honey bees that were naturally infected with V. ceranae. Using bottom-up proteomics, we were able to find evidence indicating that propolis treatment might improve honey bees’ response to V. ceranae infection. Altogether, in this dissertation, I highlight the versatility of mass spectrometry-based proteomics for understanding disease in non-model organisms, and I show new insight into Vairimorpha’s infection processes in honey bees that can form the basis of future studies aimed at elucidating mechanisms of action in the infection process of this pathogen.

Text

2023-10-06

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/86100

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/