Article
Engineering, Environmental
Kai Wang, Jiahuan Li, Liuwei Zhao, Xiyan Mu, Chen Wang, Miao Wang, Xiaofeng Xue, Suzhen Qi, Liming Wu
Summary: The exposure of polystyrene microplastics has been found to lead to a decrease in gut microbiota diversity, changes in core microbial population structure, and alterations in the expression of key genes in honey bees. The use of tetracycline can significantly increase the toxicity of microplastics.
JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
(2021)
Article
Microbiology
Karolina Svobodova, Apolline Maitre, Dasiel Obreg, Alejandra Wu-Chuang, Srinivas Thaduri, Barbara Locke, Joachim R. de Miranda, Lourdes Mateos-Hernandez, Alena Bruce Krejc, Alejandro Cabezas-Cruz
Summary: The spread of the parasite Varroa destructor and associated viruses has led to significant losses in honey bee colonies. The gut microbiota plays a major role in honey bees' resistance and tolerance to these parasites and viruses, but the contribution of viruses to the assembly of the microbiota in the context of varroa resistance and susceptibility is unclear. This study used a network approach to investigate the impact of five viruses on the gut microbiota assembly of varroa-susceptible and varroa-surviving honey bees. The findings suggest that varroa-surviving honey bees have a different microbiota assembly compared to varroa-susceptible honey bees, and viral pathogens are nested differently within the bacterial communities of these two groups. The results also show that the removal of viral nodes has a significant impact on the microbial networks of varroa-susceptible honey bees but not varroa-surviving honey bees. Additionally, the functional pathways in the bacterial communities of varroa-surviving honey bees were found to be different, with an increase in pathways related to antiviral compounds. This study highlights the importance of understanding the protective mechanisms mediated by the microbiota in order to develop effective strategies for controlling viral infections in honey bees.
MICROBIOLOGICAL RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Kilmer Oliveira Soares, Celso Jose Bruno de Oliveira, Adriana Evangelista Rodrigues, Priscylla Carvalho Vasconcelos, Nubia Michelle Vieira da Silva, Octavio Gomes da Cunha Filho, Christopher Madden, Vanessa L. Hale
Summary: The study found that tetracycline exposure significantly affected the gut microbial composition and diversity of Africanized honey bees. Exposure to tetracycline resulted in decreased relative abundances of key core microbes, potentially negatively impacting bee health. Therefore, understanding the effects of agrochemicals on bees is crucial given their global ecological and economic importance as pollinators.
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Alan Emanuel Silva Cerqueira, Tobin J. Hammer, Nancy A. Moran, Weyder Cristiano Santana, Maria Catarina Megumi Kasuya, Cynthia Canedo da Silva
Summary: A study on Brazilian stingless bees revealed that they lack common bacterial symbionts Snodgrassella and Gilliamella found in other social corbiculate bees, instead harboring more environmental bacteria and bee-specific Starmerella yeasts. This indicates ecological shifts or acquisition of new symbionts as functional replacements in the stingless bees.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Yahya Al Naggar, Bala Singavarapu, Robert J. Paxton, Tesfaye Wubet
Summary: The gut microbiome plays a crucial role in bee health, but its balance can be disrupted by pesticides and in-hive chemicals, posing a threat to honey bee health. This study investigated the effects of field-realistic sublethal concentrations of insecticides and a fungicide on honey bee survival and gut microbiota composition. The findings highlight the negative impact of certain pesticides on honey bee survival and the importance of considering the potential effects of agrochemicals on bee gut microbiome.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Zhi-Xiang Dong, Yi-Fei Chen, Huan-Yuan Li, Qi-He Tang, Jun Guo
Summary: The Asian honey bee Apis cerana is an important insect in the ecological environment and agricultural economy. The composition of gut microbiota has a significant impact on the insect's health and development. This study used high-throughput sequencing to analyze the gut microbiota of A. cerana at different developmental stages, revealing significant variations and changes in dominant constituents. Environmental exposure in early developmental stages was found to have the greatest impact on the gut microbiota.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2021)
Review
Entomology
Katharina Sophia Mair, Johanna Irrgeher, Daniela Haluza
Summary: The One Health concept, which recognizes the interconnectedness of environmental, animal, and human health, has gained popularity. Honey bees have proven to be valuable biomonitors for collecting data on environmental pollutants potentially harmful to human health. This systematic literature review summarizes the previous application of the bee species Apis mellifera in pollutant monitoring from 2010 to 2020. The included studies demonstrate that honey bees and hive products can provide quantitative and qualitative information about specific pollutants.
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Jo-Anne C. Holley, Mary N. Jackson, Anna T. Pham, Sarah C. Hatcher, Nancy A. Moran
Summary: This study found that the gut microbiomes of carpenter bees have distinctive and consistent compositions, dominated by bacterial lineages previously known from honey bees and bumble bees. Thus, eusociality is not required for bees to maintain a specialized, host-restricted gut microbiome. These findings suggest that gut bacteria are transmitted at shared nesting sites and play a role in host ecology.
APPLIED AND ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Duan C. Copeland, Kirk E. Anderson, Brendon M. Mott
Summary: This study reveals the relationship between honey bee queen gut microbiota and early social environment as well as queen breeder identity, which is associated with the queen's reproductive capacity.
MICROBIOLOGY SPECTRUM
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Nenad M. Zaric, Robert Brodschneider, Walter Goessler
Summary: This study analyzed the elemental composition of individual honey bees for the first time, revealing significant differences in elemental concentrations between hives within the same apiary as well as between different apiaries. The study highlights the importance of sampling a larger number of hives at each location when using honey bees as biomonitors to ensure reliable interpretation of results. Additionally, negative correlations between the dry mass of a bee and concentrations of certain elements suggest potential factors such as honey or nectar content impacting the elemental composition of individual bees.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
(2022)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Amelie Cabirol, Silvia Moriano-Gutierrez, Philipp Engel
Summary: The gut microbiota of honey bees affects their brain and behavioral phenotypes, and the abundance of neuroactive metabolites in the gut, hemolymph, and brain is altered by the presence of microbiota.
MOLECULAR MICROBIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biology
Silvia Brochet, Andrew Quinn, Ruben At Mars, Nicolas Neuschwander, Uwe Sauer, Philipp Engel
Summary: This study investigated the coexistence of four closely related Lactobacillus species in the honey bee gut, revealing that they can stably coexist in the presence of pollen but not in simple sugars. Metatranscriptomics and metabolomics showed that the species utilize different carbohydrate substrates from pollen, indicating resource partitioning as the basis of their coexistence. Overall, this research provides insights into bacterial interactions and coexistence in the gut environment.
Article
Ecology
Loreley Castelli, Belen Branchiccela, Hector Romero, Pablo Zunino, Karina Antunez
Summary: Honey bees play a crucial role in food production and biodiversity maintenance through pollination. They have different survival strategies in cold temperate regions and experience lifecycle alterations in tropical or subtropical climates. The gut microbiota of honey bees in subtropical colonies changes seasonally, with environmental variables impacting its composition.
Article
Biology
Yakun Zhang, Meiling Su, Long Wang, Shaokang Huang, Songkun Su, Wei-Fone Huang
Summary: Studies have found positive associations between gut microbiota and microsporidian pathogens in honey bees. When a prebiotic was added, infected bees had higher pathogen counts but lower mortalities. The microbiota composition of infected bees resembled that of bees with longer lifespans, and adding prebiotics seemed to enhance these similarities.
Article
Microbiology
Hoda Mahmoud Elzeini, Abdel Rahman Abdel Atti Ali, Nasr Fawzy Nasr, Mariam Hassan, Ashwaa Abdel Moneim Hassan, Yasser Essam Elenany
Summary: The study evaluated five lactic acid bacterial (LAB) strains isolated from the gut microbiota of honey bees, showing high survival rates, no hemolytic activities, and good acidification rates, indicating great potential as probiotics. These LAB strains could be promising candidates for future applications as starter cultures and potential probiotics for producing functional dietary products.
FEMS MICROBIOLOGY LETTERS
(2021)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Katherine M. Elston, Sean P. Leonard, Peng Geng, Sarah B. Bialik, Elizabeth Robinson, Jeffrey E. Barrick
Summary: Insects have significant associations with microbes, and genetically engineering insect symbionts is crucial for understanding and utilizing these relationships. Different types of insect-bacteria relationships are summarized, along with the methods used to genetically modify endosymbiont and gut symbiont species. Recent studies have utilized this approach to study symbioses, manipulate insect-microbe interactions, and influence insect biology, offering promise in solving societal challenges like controlling pests and protecting pollinator health.
TRENDS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Mark Blaxter, John M. Archibald, Anna K. Childers, Jonathan A. Coddington, Keith A. Crandall, Federica Di Palma, Richard Durbin, Scott V. Edwards, Jennifer A. M. Graves, Kevin J. Hackett, Neil Hall, Erich D. Jarvis, Rebecca N. Johnson, Elinor K. Karlsson, W. John Kress, Shigehiro Kuraku, Mara K. N. Lawniczak, Kerstin Lindblad-Toh, Jose V. Lopez, Nancy A. Moran, Gene E. Robinson, Oliver A. Ryder, Beth Shapiro, Pamela S. Soltis, Tandy Warnow, Guojie Zhang, Harris A. Lewin
Summary: Life on Earth has evolved from simplicity to complexity, with bacteria and archaea excelling in metabolic diversification and eukaryotes displaying morphological innovation. The Earth BioGenome Project proposes sequencing the genomes of all known eukaryotic species to create a digital library of life, which will help address evolutionary and ecological questions and provide insights into speciation, adaptation, and organismal dependencies within ecosystems.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Review
Biology
Erick V. S. Motta, J. Elijah Powell, Sean P. Leonard, Nancy A. Moran
Summary: Social corbiculate bees have characteristic bacterial microbiomes associated with their hives and guts. Administering probiotic bacterial strains may improve the health of individual bees and their hives, but evidence for probiotic benefits is lacking or mixed. Using probiotics with native bee gut bacteria could be a promising approach for protecting the health of managed bee colonies.
PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Yujie Meng, Shuang Li, Chong Zhang, Hao Zheng
Summary: By using droplet-based microfluidic cultivation, researchers encapsulated and cultivated individual bacterial cells from the honeybee gut, leading to interesting findings. The cultivation technique revealed higher strain-level diversity compared to gut samples, and comparative genomic analysis provided insights into host adaptations.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Tobin J. Hammer, August Easton-Calabria, Nancy A. Moran
Summary: The changes in a host's microbiome over its lifespan can affect its development and aging. In this study, the temporal dynamics and stability of the bumble bee worker gut microbiome were characterized. It was found that microbiome assembly is highly predictable at the community level, similar to patterns observed in the human gut. However, at the strain level, there were stochastic colonization events. Differences in temporal dynamics among symbiont species were also observed. The gut microbiome and host transcriptome were found to stabilize, rather than senesce, with age. These findings provide a foundation for further exploring the mechanisms and functional outcomes of bee microbiome succession.
Article
Microbiology
Jieni Wang, Haoyu Lang, Wenhao Zhang, Yifan Zhai, Li Zheng, Hao Chen, Yan Liu, Hao Zheng
Summary: This study examines the protective effect of gut microbiota on honeybees by assembling a defined microbial community. The findings suggest that this defined community can protect honeybees by regulating the host immune system and has the ability to colonize the gut stably.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Zoology
Huihui Sun, Hu LI, Xue Zhang, Yan Liu, Hao Chen, Li Zheng, Yifan Zhai, Hao Zheng
Summary: There is growing concern about antibiotic resistance, and evidence shows that gut microbiota plays a critical role in providing antibiotic resistance. Honeybees, as important pollinators, have antibiotic resistance genes in their gut, posing potential risks to their own and public health. The honeybee gut serves as a reservoir for antibiotic resistance genes and could transfer these genes to pathogens, potentially spreading them during pollination and social interactions.
INTEGRATIVE ZOOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
J. Elijah Powell, Pierre Lau, Juliana Rangel, Ryan Arnott, Tyler De Jong, Nancy A. Moran
Summary: Pollen is the primary dietary protein source for honey bees but the complex polysaccharides in its outer coat cannot be digested by bees. Instead, they can be metabolized by gut bacteria. A diet without pollen significantly affects the gut microbiota and gene expression of honey bees, highlighting the importance of natural pollen as a main protein source.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Qiang Huang, Patrick J. Lariviere, J. Elijah Powell, Nancy A. Moran
Summary: In this study, researchers engineered a honey bee gut symbiont to express double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) targeting essential genes of the parasite Nosema ceranae. This led to a reduction in parasite proliferation and improved bee survival. The engineered symbionts were also transmitted among cohoused bees, suggesting a potential colony-level protection strategy.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Erick V. S. Motta, Nancy A. Moran
Summary: This study investigated the effects of herbicide on the gut microbiota and survival rates of the eastern bumble bee. The results showed that herbicide exposure had a temporary impact on the gut microbiota but did not cause long-lasting damage. It also suggested a potential negative effect on the survival rates of bumble bees at high concentrations.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Microbiology
Erick V. S. Motta, Ryan L. W. Arnott, Nancy A. Moran
Summary: Caffeine plays a significant role in protecting the gut microbiota of honey bees and enhancing their resistance against bacterial infection.
MICROBIOLOGY SPECTRUM
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Katherine M. Elston, Laila E. Phillips, Sean P. Leonard, Eleanor Young, Jo-anne C. Holley, Tasneem Ahsanullah, Braydin McReynolds, Nancy A. Moran, Jeffrey E. Barrick
Summary: The Pathfinder toolkit is designed to determine the compatibility of a bacterium with different plasmid components, allowing rapid screening through multiplex conjugation. It also provides foundational genetic tools for studying microbial ecology and host-associated microbes, especially in the gut microbiome of a model insect species.
ISME COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Review
Microbiology
Erick V. S. Motta, Nancy A. Moran
Summary: The gut microbiota plays a key role in honeybee biology and health, interacting with the host and each other through cross-feeding and antagonistic interactions to maintain community stability and prevent pathogen invasion. Agrochemicals such as insecticides can disrupt the gut microbiota, negatively impacting bee health.
NATURE REVIEWS MICROBIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Microbiology
Erick V. S. Motta, J. Elijah Powell, Nancy A. Moran
Summary: Exposure of honey bees to glyphosate or tylosin can negatively impact their immune system, leading to a reduction in beneficial gut bacteria and immune dysregulation.