Honeybee Exposure to Veterinary Drugs: How Is the Gut Microbiota Affected?

Baffoni, Loredana; Alberoni, Daniele; Gaggìa, Francesca; Braglia, Chiara; Stanton, Catherine; Ross, R. Paul; Gioia, Diana Di

doi:10.1128/spectrum.00176-21

Cited by 17 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 77 publications

(79 reference statements)

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“…Consistent with the direct action of antibiotics on bacteria, we observed substantial changes in the honey bee gut community after tetracycline exposure. While in previous studies, antibiotics were shown to affect the honey bee microbiome ( Powell et al, 2021 ; Tian et al, 2012 ; Moullan et al, 2015 ; Li et al, 2017 ; Raymann et al, 2017 ; Baffoni et al, 2021 ; Jia et al, 2022 ), it rarely led to the total collapse of bacterial species as we observed in our design. At the end of the first cycle, four bacterial genera disappeared from guts of antibiotic-fed bees ( Figure 5 and Supplementary Figure S9 ).…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 44%

“…In addition, honey bees are important pollinators and are exposed to diverse chemicals in the agricultural landscape as well as by beekeepers. It could be shown that antibiotics have strong effects on the honey bee microbiome ( Powell et al, 2021 ; Tian et al, 2012 ; Moullan et al, 2015 ; Li et al, 2017 ; Raymann et al, 2017 ; Baffoni et al, 2021 ; Jia et al, 2022 ) and that such dysbiosis can even be experimentally transferred between workers ( Jia et al, 2022 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Experimental inheritance of antibiotic acquired dysbiosis affects host phenotypes across generations

2022

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Microbiomes can enhance the health, fitness and even evolutionary potential of their hosts. Many organisms propagate favorable microbiomes fully or partially via vertical transmission. In the long term, such co-propagation can lead to the evolution of specialized microbiomes and functional interdependencies with the host. However, microbiomes are vulnerable to environmental stressors, particularly anthropogenic disturbance such as antibiotics, resulting in dysbiosis. In cases where microbiome transmission occurs, a disrupted microbiome may then become a contagious pathology causing harm to the host across generations. We tested this hypothesis using the specialized socially transmitted gut microbiome of honey bees as a model system. By experimentally passaging tetracycline-treated microbiomes across worker ‘generations’ we found that an environmentally acquired dysbiotic phenotype is heritable. As expected, the antibiotic treatment disrupted the microbiome, eliminating several common and functionally important taxa and strains. When transmitted, the dysbiotic microbiome harmed the host in subsequent generations. Particularly, naïve bees receiving antibiotic-altered microbiomes died at higher rates when challenged with further antibiotic stress. Bees with inherited dysbiotic microbiomes showed alterations in gene expression linked to metabolism and immunity, among other pathways, suggesting effects on host physiology. These results indicate that there is a possibility that sublethal exposure to chemical stressors, such as antibiotics, may cause long-lasting changes to functional host-microbiome relationships, possibly weakening the host’s progeny in the face of future ecological challenges. Future studies under natural conditions would be important to examine the extent to which negative microbiome-mediated phenotypes could indeed be heritable and what role this may play in the ongoing loss of biodiversity.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 44%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental inheritance of antibiotic acquired dysbiosis affects host phenotypes across generations

2022

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“…Statistical analysis for qPCR and NGS data (α-diversity and taxon analysis) was performed with the R software according to Baffoni et al 10 . β-diversity index was based on the QIIME statistical elaboration reports.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The ground beetle Pseudoophonus rufipes gut microbiome is influenced by the farm management system

Magagnoli

Alberoni

Baffoni

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

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Intensive conventional farm management, characterized by high agrochemicals input, could alter the composition of microbial communities with potential negative effects on both functional traits and the ecosystem services provided. In this study, we investigated the gut microbial composition of a high ecological relevance carabid Pseudoophonus rufipes, sampled in two fields subjected to conventional and organic management practices. Carabids’ gut microbiota was analyzed via qPCR and NGS. Profound differences between the microbial composition of organic and conventional samples were detected: the abundance of Tenericutes and Proteobacteria was significant higher in organic and conventional samples, respectively. Spiroplasmataceae and Bifidobacteriaceae families were significantly more abundant in samples from organic management, while Enterococcaceae, Morganellaceae and Yersiniaceae were more abundant in samples from conventional management. The diverse gut microbial composition of insects between the two management systems is related to the pressure of environmental stressors and it may representing an important bioindication of ecological functions and services provided by a carabid species.

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“…Therefore, a total of 60 samples were analysed via NGS in this work. The V3-V4 regions of 16S rRNA gene were amplified with primers Pro341F and Pro805R (Takahashi et al [41]), barcoded and sequenced on the MiSeq Illumina platform 2x300 bp V3 chemistry according to the protocol of Baffoni et al [24]. Raw reads were analysed with Qiime II [42], chimera checked with Userach61 [43], and obtained representative OTUs blasted against SILVA database v132 [44] and the new Apoidea-specific database.…”

Section: S Rrna Based Next Generation Sequencing and Bioinformatics A...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Alterations in the Microbiota of Caged Honeybees in the Presence of Nosema ceranae Infection and Related Changes in Functionality

2022

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Several studies have outlined that changes in the honeybee gut microbial composition may impair important metabolic functions supporting the honeybees’ life. Gut dysbiosis may be caused by diseases like Nosema ceranae or by other anthropic, environmental or experimental stressors. The present work contributes to increasing knowledge on the dynamics of the gut microbiome acquisition in caged honeybees, an experimental condition frequently adopted by researchers, with or without infection with N. ceranae, and fed with a bacterial mixture to control N. ceranae development. Changes of the gut microbiota were elucidated comparing microbial profile of caged and open-field reared honeybees. The absolute abundance of the major gut microbial taxa was studied with both NGS and qPCR approaches, whereas changes in the functionality were based on RAST annotations and manually curated. In general, all caged honeybees showed important changes in the gut microbiota, with $$\gamma$$ γ -proteobacteria (Frischella, Gilliamella and Snodgrassella) lacking in all caged experimental groups. Caged honeybees infected with N. ceranae showed also a strong colonization of environmental taxa like Citrobacter, Cosenzaea and Morganella, as well as possibly pathogenic bacteria such as Serratia. The colonization of Serratia did not occur in presence of the bacterial mixture. The functionality prediction revealed that environmental bacteria or the supplemented bacterial mixture increased the metabolic potential of the honeybee gut microbiome compared to field and caged controls.

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Honeybee Exposure to Veterinary Drugs: How Is the Gut Microbiota Affected?

Cited by 17 publications

References 77 publications

Experimental inheritance of antibiotic acquired dysbiosis affects host phenotypes across generations

Experimental inheritance of antibiotic acquired dysbiosis affects host phenotypes across generations

The ground beetle Pseudoophonus rufipes gut microbiome is influenced by the farm management system

Alterations in the Microbiota of Caged Honeybees in the Presence of Nosema ceranae Infection and Related Changes in Functionality

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