Zhou Nihong, Yang Shangning, Wei Ruike, Hu Fuliang, Liu Dandan, Zheng Huoqing
College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
Institute of Agricultural Research, Xizang Academy of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Sciences, Lasa 850032, China.
Insects. 2025 May 1;16(5):478. doi: 10.3390/insects16050478.
Honeybee gut microbiota undergoes long-term adaptive evolution with the host, resulting in host-specific genomic and functional characteristics. However, the specific role of host-specialized strains in shaping host physiological functions remains understudied. This study investigates the host specificity of the core gut symbiont in and , exploring its effects on immune response and natural virus suppression through genomic analysis and colonization experiments. Genomic analysis revealed that strain from , exhibited a larger genome and greater gene content compared to strain from . Competitive colonization experiments showed that although strains from different origins had similar colonization efficiency in the host, host-specific strain displayed a clear home-field advantage in the competitive colonization process. Moreover, Inoculation of with its native strain significantly reduced Deformed Wing Virus (DWV) titers, whereas a non-native strain had no effect. In contrast, neither strain altered DWV or Sacbrood Virus (SBV) levels in . Immune gene analysis revealed that only the native strain upregulated in , while no significant changes occurred in with either strain. These results suggest that exhibits host specificity at the strain level, influencing both host immune response and virus suppression, with non-native strains showing reduced efficacy in these functional roles, especially in .
蜜蜂肠道微生物群与宿主经历长期的适应性进化，从而产生宿主特异性的基因组和功能特征。然而，宿主特异性菌株在塑造宿主生理功能方面的具体作用仍未得到充分研究。本研究调查了西方蜜蜂和东方蜜蜂核心肠道共生菌的宿主特异性，通过基因组分析和定殖实验探索其对免疫反应和天然病毒抑制的影响。基因组分析表明，与来自东方蜜蜂的菌株相比，来自西方蜜蜂的菌株表现出更大的基因组和更多的基因含量。竞争性定殖实验表明，尽管来自不同来源的菌株在宿主中的定殖效率相似，但宿主特异性菌株在竞争性定殖过程中表现出明显的主场优势。此外，用西方蜜蜂的本地菌株接种显著降低了残翅病毒（DWV）的滴度，而非本地菌株则没有效果。相比之下，两种菌株均未改变东方蜜蜂体内的DWV或囊状幼虫病毒（SBV）水平。免疫基因分析表明，只有本地的西方蜜蜂菌株上调了东方蜜蜂体内的（相关基因），而两种菌株对西方蜜蜂体内的（相关基因）均未产生显著变化。这些结果表明，西方蜜蜂在菌株水平上表现出宿主特异性，影响宿主免疫反应和病毒抑制，非本地菌株在这些功能作用中效果降低，尤其是在东方蜜蜂中。
