You’re invited to attend Lizzy Rylance’s Master’s Defense Seminar as she presents her research on one of nature’s most essential pollinators:

“Can Bees Handle the Heat? Effects of Genotype and Acclimation on Honeybee Thermal Responses”

Date: Friday, June 20, 2025
Time: 11:00 AM
Location: NR345
Virtual Option: bit.ly/HotBuzz

Advised by Dr. Dhruba Naug, Lizzy’s work explores how different honeybee genotypes and acclimation strategies influence their ability to tolerate high temperatures—an increasingly important question in the context of climate change.

Whether you’re interested in insect physiology, climate adaptation, or just want to support a fellow researcher, we hope you’ll join us for this engaging presentation.

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Abstract:

“As global temperatures rise, animals are increasingly exposed to stressful conditions that challenge their physiological and behavioral performance. Genetic variation and phenotypic plasticity are two key factors that influence how organisms respond to such environmental change. Here, we investigated how thermal responses in honeybees (Apis mellifera) are influenced by (1) genotypic differences in a key metabolic enzyme and (2) short-term thermal acclimation. First, we examined genetic variation at the malate dehydrogenase (MDH-1) locus and its effects on metabolic rate, locomotor activity, and learning performance across a range of temperatures. Next, to assess plasticity, bees were acclimated for 48 hours to either cool or warm conditions and then tested at matching or mismatched temperatures. Our results demonstrate that both genetic variation and thermal acclimation influence performance, but their effects differ by trait. Genotype-specific performance differences across temperatures provide evidence that MDH-1 variation may contribute to thermal adaptation, and we discuss these results in the context of Slow-Fast behavioral phenotypes. In contrast, short-term acclimation had limited capacity to buffer behavioral responses to changing temperatures. Together, these findings emphasize the importance of integrative approaches to evaluating thermal responses and have important implications for understanding pollinator performance and adaptation in a warming world.”