Abstract
Gut microbial communities play vital roles in the modulation of many insects' immunity, including Apis mellifera. However, little is known about the interaction of Apis cerana gut bacteria and A. cerana immune system. Here in this study, we conducted a comparison between germ-free gut microbiota deficient (GD) workers and conventional gut community (CV) workers, to reveal the possible impact of gut microbiota on the expression of A. cerana antimicrobial peptides and immune regulate pathways. We also test whether A. cerana gut microbiota can strengthen host resistance to Nosema ceranae. We find that the expression of apidaecin, abaecin and hymenoptaecin were significantly upregulated with the presence of gut bacteria, and JNK pathway was activated; in the meanwhile, the existence of gut bacteria inhibited the proliferation of Nosema ceranae. These demonstrated the essential role of A. cerana gut microbiota to host health and provided critical insight into the honeybee host–microbiome interaction.
Highlights
In animal gastrointestinal tracts live complex assemblages of microorganisms, some of which are emerging as key players in governing host health [1]
We focused on the contribution of A. cerana gut microbiota to host health in two key aspects: (i) the interaction between gut microbiota and immune system of A. cerana, and (ii) the interaction between gut microbiota and parasites of A. cerana
The copy numbers of the 16S rRNA gene in the gut of A. cerana workers was significantly increased when inoculated with normal gut microbiota (Student’s t-test, t = 4.538, d.f. = 34, p < 0.001), with a total of approximately 1010 bacterial cells found per gut of CV bees versus a total bacterial load of around 106 cells per gut of gut microbiota deficient (GD) bees
Summary
In animal gastrointestinal tracts live complex assemblages of microorganisms, some of which are emerging as key players in governing host health [1]. The gut bacteria communities of insects have been found involved in food digestion, nutrient provisioning, host development and intraspecific royalsocietypublishing.org/journal/rsos R. Communication, and they generally can contribute to host health through immune system stimulation as well 2 as conferring resistance against pathogens [2,3,4]. Due to their social behaviour and the ways of acquiring gut microbiota, honeybees consistently harbour a highly conserved gut community, many of which have coevolved with their host for millions of years [6]. Study has demonstrated that Apis mellifera gut microbiota possesses a large repertoire of metabolic capabilities [7]. Zheng et al [8,9] have shown that A. mellifera gut microbiota can promote host development and participate in the metabolism of toxic sugars
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