Gut microbiota composition is associated with environmental landscape in honey bees

• DOI: 10.1002/ece3.3597
• Publication Date: 2017-11-30T05:08:42Z
• Authors: Julia C Jones; Carmelo Fruciano; Falk Hildebrand; Hasan Al Toufalilia; Nicholas J Balfour; Peer Bork; Philipp Engel; Francis LW Ratnieks; William OH Hughes
• Keywords: 2. Zero hunger; 0303 health sciences; amplicon sequencing; oilseed rape; Ecology; /dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/2300/2309; 15. Life on land; 03 medical and health sciences; Cardiovascular and Metabolic Diseases; amplicon sequencing; bacterial microbiota; honey bee; landscape exposure; oilseed rape; honey bee; bacterial microbiota; landscape exposure; /dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/2300/2303; /dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/1100/1105; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; QH540-549.5; Nature and Landscape Conservation; Original Research

Abstract There is growing recognition that the gut microbial community regulates a wide variety of important functions in its animal hosts, including host health. However, complex interactions between microbes and environment are still unclear. Honey bees ecologically economically pollinators core thought to be constant across populations. Here, we examined whether composition honey affected by environmental landscape exposed to. We placed bee colonies reared under identical conditions two main types for 6 weeks: either oilseed rape farmland or agricultural distant fields flowering rape. The bacterial communities adult from were then characterized compared based on amplicon sequencing 16S rRNA gene. While previous studies have delineated characteristic set bacteria inhabiting gut, our results suggest broad has some influence relative abundance members community. This includes known dominant taxa nutrition Our provide evidence an exposure highlight potential effect different parameters, such as forage type neonicotinoid pesticides, key bacteria. work emphasizes complexity relationship host, bacteria, identifies target functional analyses.