Guo Baodi, Tang Jiao, Ding Guiling, Mashilingi Shibonage K, Huang Jiaxing, An Jiandong
Key Laboratory for Insect-Pollinator Biology of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Institute of Apicultural Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China.
Department of Crop Sciences and Beekeeping Technology, College of Agriculture and Food Technology, University of Dar es Salaam, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Front Microbiol. 2023 Mar 1;14:1117077. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1117077. eCollection 2023.
Host symbionts are often considered an essential part of the host phenotype, influencing host growth and development. Bumble bee is an ideal model for investigating the relationship between microbiota and phenotypes. Variations in life history across bumble bees may influence the community composition of gut microbiota, which in turn influences phenotypes. In this study, we explored gut microbiota from four development stages (early-instar larvae, 1st instar; mid-instar larvae, 5th instar; late-instar larvae, 9th instar; and adults) of workers and queens in the bumble bee using the full-length 16S rRNA sequencing technology. The results showed that morphological indices (weight and head capsule) were significantly different between workers and queens from 5th instar larvae ( < 0.01). The alpha and beta diversities of gut microbiota were similar between workers and queens in two groups: early instar and mid instar larvae. However, the alpha diversity was significantly different in late instar larvae or adults. The relative abundance of three main phyla of bacteria (Cyanobacteria, Proteobacteria, and Firmicutes) and two genera ( and ) were significantly different ( < 0.01) between workers and queens in late instar larvae or adults. Also, we found that age significantly affected the microbial alpha diversity as the Shannon and ASVs indices differed significantly among the four development stages. Our study suggests that the 5th instar larval stage can be used to judge the morphology of workers or queens in bumble bees. The key microbes differing in phenotypes may be involved in regulating phenotypic variations.
宿主共生体通常被认为是宿主表型的重要组成部分，影响宿主的生长和发育。大黄蜂是研究微生物群与表型之间关系的理想模型。大黄蜂生活史的变化可能会影响肠道微生物群的群落组成，进而影响表型。在本研究中，我们使用全长16S rRNA测序技术，探索了大黄蜂工蜂和蜂王四个发育阶段（低龄幼虫，1龄；中龄幼虫，5龄；老龄幼虫，9龄；以及成虫）的肠道微生物群。结果表明，5龄幼虫期的工蜂和蜂王之间的形态指标（体重和头壳）存在显著差异（<0.01）。两组（低龄幼虫和中龄幼虫）的工蜂和蜂王肠道微生物群的α多样性和β多样性相似。然而，老龄幼虫或成虫的α多样性存在显著差异。老龄幼虫或成虫阶段，工蜂和蜂王之间细菌的三个主要门类（蓝细菌、变形菌门和厚壁菌门）以及两个属（和）的相对丰度存在显著差异（<0.01）。此外，我们发现年龄显著影响微生物的α多样性，因为香农指数和ASVs指数在四个发育阶段之间存在显著差异。我们的研究表明，5龄幼虫阶段可用于判断大黄蜂工蜂或蜂王的形态。表型不同的关键微生物可能参与调节表型变异。
