用“超级食物”拯救蜜蜂——人工补充剂促进蜂群繁殖

生物技术突破为蜜蜂提供必需的花粉营养

　　

禁运有效期至 2025 年 8 月 20 日星期三 16:00 BST / 11:00 ET

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牛津大学与英国皇家植物园邱园、格林威治大学和丹麦技术大学合作开展的一项新研究，有望提供一种经济高效且可持续的解决方案，帮助应对蜜蜂数量的急剧下降。研究发现，一种旨在提供植物花粉中必需化合物的人工饲料补充剂，能够显著增强蜂群繁殖。该研究结果于今日（8月20日）发表在《自然》杂志上。

挑战：解决严重的营养缺乏问题

气候变化和农业集约化日益剥夺了蜜蜂繁衍生息所需的花卉多样性。花粉是它们食物的主要成分，其中含有一种名为固醇的特殊脂质，这种物质对蜜蜂的发育至关重要。由于天然花粉不足，养蜂人越来越多地给蜜蜂喂食人工花粉替代品。然而，这些由蛋白粉、糖和油制成的商业补充剂缺乏所需的固醇化合物，导致营养不全面。

在这项新研究中，研究团队成功改造了酵母菌——解脂耶氏酵母（Yarrowia lipolytica ），使其能够精确地生产出蜜蜂所需的六种关键固醇混合物。随后，研究人员在为期三个月的饲养试验中，将这些混合物添加到蜜蜂群落的饲料中。试验在封闭的温室中进行，以确保蜜蜂只食用试验组饲料。

主要发现：

• 到研究结束时，与饲喂对照饮食的菌落相比，饲喂富含甾甾醇的酵母的菌落所养育的幼虫至可存活蛹蛹期的数量增加了 15 倍。
• 喂食强化饮食的蜂群更有可能在三个月期末继续养育幼虫，而喂食缺乏固醇饮食的蜂群则会在 90 天后停止养育幼虫。
• 值得注意的是，喂养工程酵母的蜂群中幼虫的甾甾醇谱与自然觅食蜂群中的甾甾醇谱相匹配，这表明蜜蜂选择性地仅将最重要的生物学甾甾醇转移到幼虫身上。

资深作者、牛津大学生物系教授杰拉尔丁·赖特表示：“我们的研究展示了如何利用合成生物学来解决现实世界的生态挑战。蜜蜂使用的大多数花粉固醇在自然界中无法获得足够数量的商业化收获，因此，我们无法创造出一种营养全面的花粉替代品。”

主要作者埃莉诺·摩尔博士（研究期间就职于牛津大学生物系，现就职于代尔夫特理工大学）补充道：“对蜜蜂而言，富含甾甾醇的饮食与传统蜜蜂饲料之间的差异，就如同人类食用均衡、营养全面的膳食与食用缺乏必需脂肪酸等必需营养素的膳食之间的差异一样。利用精准发酵，我们现在能够为蜜蜂提供在分子水平上营养全面的定制饲料。”

从花粉到精准营养：识别和生产关键的蜜蜂甾甾醇

在开展这项研究之前，人们尚不清楚花粉中哪些甾甾醇对蜜蜂的健康至关重要。为了解答这个问题，研究人员对从蛹蛹和成年蜜蜂身上采集的组织样本中的甾甾醇成分进行了化学评估。这需要一些极其精细的工作；例如，需要解剖单个工蜂以分离其肠道。分析确定了六种在蜜蜂组织中始终占主要成分的甾甾醇化合物：24-亚甲基胆固醇、菜油甾甾醇、异岩藻甾甾醇、β-谷甾甾醇、胆固醇和去甲甾甾醇。

研究人员随后利用 CRISPR-Cas9 基因编辑技术，对酵母菌解脂耶氏酵母(Yarrowia lipolytica)进行了基因改造，使其能够以可持续且经济的方式生产这些固醇。之所以选择解脂耶氏酵母，是因为这种酵母脂质含量高，已被证实具有食品安全性，并且已经用于补充水产养殖饲料。为了生产富含固醇的补充剂，研究人员在生物反应器中培养了经过基因改造的酵母生物质，然后收获，干燥成粉末。

合著者伊琳娜·博罗迪纳教授（丹麦技术大学NNF生物可持续性中心）表示：“我们选择产油酵母解脂耶氏酵母（Yarrowia lipolytica）作为细胞工厂，是因为它非常擅长生产乙酰辅酶A衍生的化合物，例如脂质和固醇，而且这种酵母安全且易于规模化生产。它在工业上用于生产酶、ω-3脂肪酸、作为无热量甜味剂的甜菊糖苷、用于害虫防治的信息素以及其他产品。”

对农业和生物多样性的益处

Pollinators like honeybees contribute to the production of over 70% of leading global crops. Severe declines – caused by a combination of nutrient deficiencies, climate change, mite infestations, viral diseases, and pesticide exposure - poses a significant threat to food security and biodiversity. For instance, over the past decade, annual commercial honey bee colony losses in the U.S have typically ranged between 40 and 50%, and could reach 60 to 70% in 2025. This new engineered supplement offers a practical means to enhance colony resilience without further depleting natural floral resources. Since the yeast biomass also contains beneficial proteins and lipids, it could potentially be expanded into a comprehensive bee feed.

Co-author Professor Phil Stevenson (RBG Kew and Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich) added: “Honey bees are critically important pollinators for the production of crops such as almonds, apples, and cherries and so are present in some crop locations in very large numbers, which can put pressure on limited wildflowers. Our engineered supplement could therefore benefit wild bee species by reducing competition for limited pollen supplies.”

Danielle Downey (Executive Director of honeybee research nonprofit Project Apis m., not affiliated with the study) said: “We rely on honey bees to pollinate one in three bites of our food, yet bees face many stressors. Good nutrition is one way to improve their resilience to these threats, and in landscapes with dwindling natural forage for bees, a more complete diet supplement could be a game changer. This breakthrough discovery of key phytonutrients that, when included in feed supplements, allow sustained honey bee brood rearing has immense potential to improve outcomes for colony survival, and in turn the beekeeping businesses we rely on for our food production.”

Next steps and future applications

Whilst these initial results are promising, further large-scale field trials are needed to assess long-term impacts on colony health and pollination efficacy. Potentially, the supplement could be available to farmers within two years.

This new technology could also be used to develop dietary supplements for other pollinators or farmed insects, opening new avenues for sustainable agriculture.

Notes to editors:

For media enquiries and interview requests, contact: Geraldine Wright ([e-mail]) and Elynor Moore ([e-mail]).

The study ‘Engineered yeast provide rare but essential pollen sterols for honeybees’ will be published in Nature at 16:00 BST/ 11:00 ET Wednesday 20 August 2025 at https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09431-y To view a copy of the study before this under embargo, contact: Geraldine Wright ([e-mail]) and Elynor Moore ([e-mail])

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