Ramírez-Ahuja María de Lourdes, Peña-Carrillo Kenzy I, Gómez-Govea Mayra A, Jiménez-Martínez Mariana Lizbeth, Trujillo-Rodríguez Gerardo de Jesús, Espinoza-Ruiz Marisol, Guzmán Velasco Antonio, Flores Adriana E, González-Rojas José Ignacio, Reséndez-Pérez Diana, Rodríguez-Sánchez Iram Pablo
Laboratorio de Fisiología Molecular y Estructural, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, San Nicolás de los Garza 64460, Mexico.
Campo Experimental General Terán, Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales Agrícolas y Pecuarias, Km 31 Carretera Montemorelos-China, General Terán 67400, Mexico.
Microorganisms. 2025 Jul 11;13(7):1645. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms13071645.
Bacterial symbionts play an important role in insect survival by contributing to key metabolic and defensive functions. While stingless bees are known to harbor diverse microbial communities, their core bacterial symbionts remain poorly characterized. In this study, we analyzed the gut microbiota of sixteen stingless bee species collected from different regions of Mexico using 16S rRNA gene sequencing on the Illumina MiSeq™ platform. Our results revealed that Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, and Actinobacteria are the most abundant bacterial phyla across species. Among the dominant genera, lactic acid bacteria, such as spp., , and spp., were the most prevalent. These bacteria are responsible for developing biochemical functions in metabolic processes like lactic fermentation and the biotransformation of complex organic compounds into molecules that are more easily assimilated by bees. This study offers a novel perspective on the diversity and predicted composition of gut microbiota in Mexican stingless bees. By highlighting differences in microbial communities among species with different feeding habits, our results emphasize the importance of preserving microbial biodiversity in these pollinators.
细菌共生体通过参与关键的代谢和防御功能，在昆虫生存中发挥着重要作用。虽然已知无刺蜂拥有多样的微生物群落，但其核心细菌共生体仍未得到充分表征。在本研究中，我们使用Illumina MiSeq™平台上的16S rRNA基因测序技术，分析了从墨西哥不同地区采集的16种无刺蜂的肠道微生物群。我们的结果显示，变形菌门、厚壁菌门和放线菌门是所有物种中最丰富的细菌门类。在优势属中，乳酸菌，如 属、 属和 属最为普遍。这些细菌负责在代谢过程中发挥生化功能，如乳酸发酵以及将复杂有机化合物生物转化为蜜蜂更易同化的分子。本研究为墨西哥无刺蜂肠道微生物群的多样性和预测组成提供了新视角。通过突出不同取食习性物种间微生物群落的差异，我们的结果强调了保护这些传粉者中微生物多样性的重要性。
