Abstract
BackgroundThe health of honeybee colonies is critical for bee products and agricultural production, and colony health is closely associated with the bacteria in the guts of honeybees. Although colony loss in winter is now the primary restriction in beekeeping, the effects of different sugars as winter food on the health of honeybee colonies are not well understood. Therefore, in this study, the influence of different sugar diets on honeybee gut bacteria during overwintering was examined.ResultsThe bacterial communities in honeybee midguts and hindguts before winter and after bees were fed honey, sucrose, and high-fructose syrup as winter-food were determined by targeting the V3-V4 region of 16S rDNA using the Illumina MiSeq platform.The dominant microbiota in honeybee guts were the phyla Proteobacteria (63.17%), Firmicutes (17.61%; Lactobacillus, 15.91%), Actinobacteria (4.06%; Bifidobacterium, 3.34%), and Bacteroidetes (1.72%). The dominant taxa were conserved and not affected by season, type of overwintering sugar, or spatial position in the gut. However, the relative abundance of the dominant taxa was affected by those factors. In the midgut, microbial diversity of the sucrose group was higher than that of the honey and high-fructose syrup groups, but in the hindgut, microbial diversity of the honey and high-fructose groups was higher than that in the sucrose group. Sucrose increased the relative abundance of Actinobacteria (Bifidobacteriales Bifidobacteriaceae) and Alphaproteobacteria (Rhizobiales and Mitochondria) of honeybee midgut, and honey enriched the Bacteroidetes and Gammaproteobacteria (Pasteurellales) in honeybee hindgut. High-fructose syrup increased the relative abundance of Betaproteobacteria (Neisseriales: Neisseriaceae) of the midgut.ConclusionThe type of sugar used as winter food affected the relative abundance of the dominant bacterial communities in honeybee guts, not the taxa, which could affect the health and safety of honeybee colonies during overwintering. The presence of the supernal Alphaproteobacteria, Bifidobacteriales, and Lactobacillaceae in the gut of honeybees fed sucrose and cheaper than honey both indicate that sucrose is very suitable as the overwintering food for honeybees.
Highlights
The health of honeybee colonies is critical for bee products and agricultural production, and colony health is closely associated with the bacteria in the guts of honeybees
Honeybee gut microbiota profile In this study, the gut bacterial community of honeybees was characterized via 16S rRNA amplicon Illumina sequencing
These taxa are consistent with those found in a recent study [10, 15, 16, 20,21,22]. These studies suggest that the dominant groups of bacteria in honeybee guts may not be changed by external factors, including season, temperature, sugar types, and even toxins [21]
Summary
The health of honeybee colonies is critical for bee products and agricultural production, and colony health is closely associated with the bacteria in the guts of honeybees. Microbes are highly abundant in the gut of honeybees, and gut microbial communities can impact bee pollinators in diverse ways, from nutrition to defense against disease [2, 3]. The honeybee is a social insect that harbors a core gut microbiota of nine abundant phylotypes, which account for 95% of all gut bacteria [9, 10]. Adult honeybees have a distinct microbial gut community comprised of 9 core bacterial species in the Alphaprotobacteria, Betaprotobacteria, Gammaprotobacteria, Firmicutes and Actinobacteria [11, 12]. In addition to Gammaproteobacteria and Betaproteobacteria, the dominant microbiota in the hindgut include fermentative bacteria used for fermenting food residues and faeces, such as lactobacillus [12, 13, 16]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
