Laboratorio de Microbiología Y Salud de Las Abejas, Departamento de Microbiología, Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas Clemente Estable, Avda. Italia 3318, Montevideo, Uruguay.
Sección Apicultura, Programa Nacional de Producción Familiar, INIA La Estanzuela, Ruta 50, Km 11, Colonia, Uruguay.
Microb Ecol. 2022 Feb;83(2):492-500. doi: 10.1007/s00248-021-01756-1. Epub 2021 May 11.
Honey bees (Apis mellifera) provide invaluable benefits for food production and maintenance of biodiversity of natural environments through pollination. They are widely spread across the world, being adapted to different climatic conditions. To survive the winter in cold temperate regions, honey bees developed different strategies including storage of honey and pollen, confinement of individuals during the winter, and an annual cycle of colony growth and reproduction. Under these conditions, winter honey bees experience physiological changes, including changes in immunity and the composition of honey bee gut microbiota. However, under tropical or subtropical climates, the life cycle can experience alterations, i.e., queens lay eggs during almost all the year and new honey bees emerge constantly. In the present study, we characterized nurses' honey bee gut microbiota in colonies under subtropical region through a year, combining qPCR, PCR-DGGE, and 16S rDNA high-throughput sequencing. We also identified environmental variables involved in those changes. Our results showed that under the mentioned conditions, the number of bacteria is stable throughout the year. Diversity of gut microbiota is higher in spring and lower in summer and winter. Gradual changes in compositions occur between seasons: Lactobacillus spp. predominate in spring while Gilliamella apicola and Snodgrasella alvi predominate in summer and winter. Environmental variables (mainly precipitations) affected the composition of the honey bee gut microbiota. Our findings provide new insights into the dynamics of honey bee gut microbiota and may be useful to understand the adaptation of bees to different environmental conditions.
蜜蜂（Apis mellifera）通过授粉为食物生产和自然环境生物多样性的维护提供了宝贵的益处。它们广泛分布于世界各地，适应不同的气候条件。为了在寒冷的温带地区过冬，蜜蜂发展了不同的策略，包括储存蜂蜜和花粉、在冬季限制个体活动、以及蚁群的年度生长和繁殖周期。在这些条件下，冬季蜜蜂经历了生理变化，包括免疫力和蜜蜂肠道微生物群落组成的变化。然而，在热带或亚热带气候下，生命周期可能会发生改变，即蜂王几乎全年产卵，新的蜜蜂不断出现。在本研究中，我们通过一年的时间，结合 qPCR、PCR-DGGE 和 16S rDNA 高通量测序，对亚热带地区蜂群中工蜂的肠道微生物群进行了特征描述。我们还确定了参与这些变化的环境变量。我们的结果表明，在上述条件下，全年细菌数量保持稳定。肠道微生物群落的多样性在春季较高，夏季和冬季较低。各季节之间的组成逐渐变化：春季以乳酸杆菌属为主，夏季和冬季以 Gilliamella apicola 和 Snodgrasella alvi 为主。环境变量（主要是降水）影响蜜蜂肠道微生物群落的组成。我们的研究结果为蜜蜂肠道微生物群落的动态提供了新的见解，并可能有助于了解蜜蜂对不同环境条件的适应。
