Metabolic profiling reveals an increase in stress-related metabolites in Arabidopsis thaliana exposed to honeybees

Insects affect crop harvest yield and quality, making plant response mechanisms to insect herbivores a heavily studied topic. However, analysis of plant responses to honeybees is rare. In this study, comprehensive metabolic profiling of Arabidopsis thaliana exposed to honeybees was performed to investigate which metabolites were changed by the insect. A total of 85 metabolites―including chlorophylls, carotenoids, glucosinolates, policosanols, tocopherols, phytosterols, β-amyrin, amino acids, organic acids, sugars, and starch―were identified using high performance liquid chromatography, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, and gas chromatography-time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The metabolite profiling analysis of Arabidopsis exposed to honeybees showed higher levels of stress-related metabolites. The levels of glucosinolates (glucoraphanin, 4-methoxyglucobrassicin), policosanols (eicosanol, docosanol, tricosanol, tetracosanol), tocopherols (β-tocopherol, γ-tocopherol), putrescine, lysine, and sugars (arabinose, fructose, glucose, mannitol, mannose, raffinose) in Arabidopsis exposed to honeybees were higher than those in unexposed Arabidopsis. Glucosinolates act as defensive compounds against herbivores; policosanols are components of plant waxes; tocopherols act as an antioxidant; and putrescine, lysine, and sugars contribute to stress regulation. Our results suggest that Arabidopsis perceives honeybees as a stress and changes its metabolites to overcome the stress. This is the first step to determining how Arabidopsis reacts to exposure to honeybees.