Diet affects reproductive development and microbiota composition in honey bees DOI Creative Commons

Anjali Zumkhawala-Cook,

Patrick Gallagher, Kasie Raymann

et al.

Animal Microbiome, Journal Year: 2024, Volume and Issue: 6(1)

Published: Nov. 5, 2024

Gut microbes are important to the health and fitness of many animals. Many factors have been shown affect gut microbial communities including diet, lifestyle, age. Most animals very complex physiologies, lifestyles, microbiomes, making it virtually impossible disentangle what largest impact on microbiota composition. Honeybees an excellent model study host-microbe interactions due their relatively simple microbiota, experimental tractability, eusociality. Worker honey bees distinct from queen mothers despite being close genetic relatives living in same environment. Queens workers differ numerous ways development, physiology, pheromone production, behavior. In prolonged absence a or Queen Mandibular Pheromones (QMP), some but not all will develop ovaries become "queen-like". Using this inducible developmental change, we aimed determine if diet and/or reproductive development impacts bee workers. Microbiota-depleted newly emerged were inoculated with mixture worker homogenates reared under four conditions varying exposure. Three weeks post-emergence, evaluated for ovary characterized. The proportion developed was increased QMP also when fed (royal jelly). Overall, found that rather than exposure, led more "queen-like" However, revealed alone cannot explain composition hypothesis explains differences between queens rejected. We evidence is one main drivers community compositions fully queens. Thus, predict behavioral other physiological dictate Our findings only contribute our understanding affecting which health, illustrate versatility benefits utilizing honeybees as system interactions.

Language: Английский

An engineered bacterial symbiont allows noninvasive biosensing of the honey bee gut environment DOI Creative Commons
Audam Chhun, Silvia Moriano‐Gutierrez, Florian Zoppi

et al.

PLoS Biology, Journal Year: 2024, Volume and Issue: 22(3), P. e3002523 - e3002523

Published: March 5, 2024

The honey bee is a powerful model system to probe host–gut microbiota interactions, and an important pollinator species for natural ecosystems agriculture. While bacterial biosensors can provide critical insight into the complex interplay occurring between host its associated microbiota, lack of methods noninvasively sample gut content, limited genetic tools engineer symbionts, have so far hindered their development in bees. Here, we built versatile molecular tool kit genetically modify symbionts reported first time technique feces. We reprogrammed native bacterium Snodgrassella alvi as biosensor IPTG, with engineered cells that stably colonize bees report exposure molecules dose-dependent manner through expression fluorescent protein. showed fluorescence readout be measured tissues or These techniques will enable rapid building bacteria answer fundamental questions research.

Language: Английский

Citations

4
Diet affects reproductive development and microbiota composition in honey bees DOI Creative Commons

Anjali Zumkhawala-Cook,

Patrick Gallagher, Kasie Raymann

et al.

Animal Microbiome, Journal Year: 2024, Volume and Issue: 6(1)

Published: Nov. 5, 2024

Gut microbes are important to the health and fitness of many animals. Many factors have been shown affect gut microbial communities including diet, lifestyle, age. Most animals very complex physiologies, lifestyles, microbiomes, making it virtually impossible disentangle what largest impact on microbiota composition. Honeybees an excellent model study host-microbe interactions due their relatively simple microbiota, experimental tractability, eusociality. Worker honey bees distinct from queen mothers despite being close genetic relatives living in same environment. Queens workers differ numerous ways development, physiology, pheromone production, behavior. In prolonged absence a or Queen Mandibular Pheromones (QMP), some but not all will develop ovaries become "queen-like". Using this inducible developmental change, we aimed determine if diet and/or reproductive development impacts bee workers. Microbiota-depleted newly emerged were inoculated with mixture worker homogenates reared under four conditions varying exposure. Three weeks post-emergence, evaluated for ovary characterized. The proportion developed was increased QMP also when fed (royal jelly). Overall, found that rather than exposure, led more "queen-like" However, revealed alone cannot explain composition hypothesis explains differences between queens rejected. We evidence is one main drivers community compositions fully queens. Thus, predict behavioral other physiological dictate Our findings only contribute our understanding affecting which health, illustrate versatility benefits utilizing honeybees as system interactions.

Language: Английский

Citations

1