Further evidences of an emerging stingless bee-yeast symbiosis

Abstract

Symbiotic interactions between microorganisms and social insects have been described as crucial for the maintenance of these multitrophic systems, as observed for the stingless beeScaptotrigona depilisand the yeastZygosaccharomycessp. The larvae ofS. depilisingest fungal filaments ofZygosaccharomycessp. to obtain ergosterol, which is the precursor for the biosynthesis of ecdysteroids that modulate insect metamorphosis. In this work we verified that nutritional fungal symbioses also occur in other species of stingless bees. We analyzed brood cell samples from 19 species of stingless bees collected in Brazil. The osmophilic yeast Zygosaccharomyces spp. was isolated from eight bee species, namelyScaptotrigona bipuctata,S. postica,S. tubiba,Tetragona clavipes,Melipona quadrifasciata,M. fasciculata,M. bicolorandPartamona helleri. These yeasts form pseudohyphae and also accumulate ergosterol in lipid droplets, similar to the pattern observed forS. depilis. The phylogenetic analyses including variousZygosaccharomycesrevealed that strains isolated from the brood cells formed a branch separated from the previously describedZygosaccharomycesspecies, suggesting that they are new species of this genus and reinforcing the symbiotic interaction with the host insects.

Bees just wanna have fungi: a review of bee associations with nonpathogenic fungi

“…and Monascus ruber ) in the larval cell, maintaining Zygosaccharomyces at a level beneficial to the developing larvae (Paludo et al 2019 ). Similar filamentous growth forms of Zygosaccharomyces species have been isolated from brood cells of eight additional stingless bee species ( Scaptotrigona bipuctata, S. postica, S. tubiba, Tetragona clavipes, Melipona quadrifasciata, M. fasciculata, M. bicolor , and Partamona helleri ), suggesting similar nutritional roles in larval development (de Paula et al 2023 ). Additionally, larvae of the stingless bee species Heterotrigona itama , native to Malaysia, also show increased mortality (37% survival) when reared on sterile diet compared to natural diet (85%) or diet supplemented with the fungus Panus lecomtei isolated from provisions (57%, Razali et al 2022 ).…”

Scaptona ramosa gen. nov., sp. nov., isolated from nest of the stingless bee

“…Studies regarding ecological relationships and fungal species composition in substrates related to native bees are still rare. In Brazil, the relationship between fungi and Scaptotrigona depilis has been investigated [28][29][30]. In addition, other studies have reported the presence of different microorganisms associated with other genera of stingless bees [31,32].…”

Distinct fungal microbiomes of two Thai commercial stingless bee species, Lepidotrigona terminata and Tetragonula pagdeni suggest a possible niche separation in a shared habitat

“…postica, Sc. tubiba, Tetragona clavipes, Melipona quadrifasciata, M. fasciculata, M. bicolor, and Partamona helleri (de Paula et al, 2023). Additionally, Liu et al (2023) have found an association between the gut microbiome composition and the flight traits of stingless bees, though not a causative one.…”

“…Fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) harbors fungal symbionts such as Fusarium oxysporum and Cladosporium sp (Watson et al, 2023). Like other insects, bees depend on a symbiotic relationship with microbes, ranging from pathogenic to mutually beneficial (de Paula et al, 2023;Rutkowski et al, 2023). Common fungal symbionts include yeasts from the taxa of Starmerella, Metschnikowia, Zygosaccharomyces, and Candida, which are found across various tribes and species (Rutkowski et al, 2023).…”