Identifying bacterial predictors of honey bee health

Budge, Giles E.; Adams, Ian; Thwaites, Richard; Pietravalle, Stéphane; Drew, Georgia C; Hurst, Gregory D. D.; Tomkies, Victoria; Boonham, Neil; Brown, Mike

doi:10.1016/j.jip.2016.11.003

Cited by 36 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 29 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The position of the honey bee Arsenophonus on the parasitism-mutualism continuum remains speculative. Our observations of HT, systemic infections and a higher prevalence among dead hosts strengthens interpretations of previous work correlating Arsenophonus with poor health outcomes in bees [44,45,91]. HT is considered to increase the scope for the evolution of virulence [17,18], although this trait alone is insufficient to draw conclusions regarding symbiont phenotype, as many avirulent or beneficial microbes are transmitted horizontally [15,92].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

“…An economically important eusocial host, the Western honey bee (Apis mellifera), has previously been associated with Arsenophonus [39][40][41][42][43] and infection has been linked to poor health outcomes [44] including colony collapse disorder [45]. Whilst this interaction has attracted interest from the community, basic information on the epidemiology and transmission of Arsenophonus in honey bee populations is nevertheless lacking.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Transitions in symbiosis: evidence for environmental acquisition & social transmission within a clade of heritable symbionts

Drew

Budge

Frost

et al. 2020

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A dynamic continuum exists from free-living environmental microbes to strict host associated symbionts that are vertically inherited. However, knowledge of the forces that drive transitions in the modes by which symbioses form is lacking. Arsenophonus is a diverse clade of bacterial symbionts, comprising reproductive parasites to coevolving obligate mutualists, in which the predominant mode of transmission is vertical. We describe a symbiosis between a member of the genus Arsenophonus and the Western honey bee. We then present multiple lines of evidence that this symbiont deviates from a heritable model of transmission. Field sampling uncovered marked spatial and seasonal dynamics in symbiont prevalence, and rapid infection loss events were observed in field colonies and individuals in the laboratory. Fluorescent in-situ hybridization showed Arsenophonus localised in the gut, and detection of the bacterium was rare in screens of early honey bee life stages. We directly show horizontal transmission of Arsenophonus between bees under varying social conditions. We conclude that honey bees acquire Arsenophonus through a combination of environmental exposure and social contacts. Together these findings uncover a key link in the Arsenophonus clades trajectory from free-living ancestral life to obligate mutualism, and provide a foundation for studying transitions in symbiotic lifestyle.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transitions in symbiosis: evidence for environmental acquisition & social transmission within a clade of heritable symbionts

Drew

Budge

Frost

et al. 2020

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Strains belonging to Enterobacteriaceae are often associated with gastrointestinal diseases in mammals [ 35 , 36 ]. In the honeybee, the Enterobacteriaceae family is positively correlated with gut dysbiosis [ 33 ] and unhealthy colonies [ 37 ]. In one study on colonies suffering from Colony Collapse Disorder, the abundance of Arsenophonus sp.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamics of the Honeybee (Apis mellifera) Gut Microbiota Throughout the Overwintering Period in Canada

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Microbial symbionts inhabiting the honeybee gut (i.e., gut microbiota) are essential for food digestion, immunity, and gut protection of their host. The taxonomic composition of the gut microbiota is dynamic throughout the honeybee life cycle and the foraging season. However, it remains unclear how drastic changes occurring in winter, such as food shortage and cold weather, impact gut microbiota dynamics. The objective of this study was to characterize the gut microbiota of the honeybee during the overwintering period in a northern temperate climate in Canada. The microbiota of nine honeybee colonies was characterized by metataxonomy of 16S rDNA between September 2017 and June 2018. Overall, the results showed that microbiota taxonomic composition experienced major compositional shifts in fall and spring. From September to November, Enterobacteriaceae decreased, while Neisseriaceae increased. From April to June, Orbaceae increased, whereas Rhizobiaceae nearly disappeared. Bacterial diversity of the gut microbiota decreased drastically before and after overwintering, but it remained stable during winter. We conclude that the honeybee gut microbiota is likely to be impacted by the important meteorological and dietary changes that take place before and after the overwintering period. Laboratory trials are needed to determine how the observed variations affect the honeybee health.

show abstract

“…The application of endogenous LAB in beekeeping has mainly focused on colony health status, pathogen defence, nutrition and modulation of immune response. Budge et al () analysed the microbiota of different beehives and concluded that Lactobacillus and Leuconostoc were the genera most frequently associated with healthy hives and their strength was measured as the number of bee combs (Budge et al ). On the other hand, it has been reported that the more active the Bifidobacterium community was in bee guts, the lower the activity of pathogen bacteria.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Current status and application of lactic acid bacteria in animal production systems with a focus on bacteria from honey bee colonies

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are widely distributed in nature and, due to their beneficial effects on the host, are used as probiotics. This review describes the applications of LAB in animal production systems such as beekeeping, poultry, swine and bovine production, particularly as probiotics used to improve health, enhance growth and reproductive performance. Given the importance of honeybees in nature and the beekeeping industry as a producer of healthy food worldwide, the focus of this review is on the coexistence of LAB with honeybees, their food and environment. The main LAB species isolated from the beehive and their potential technological use are described. Evidence is provided that 43 LAB bacteria species have been isolated from beehives, of which 20 showed inhibition against 28 species of human and animal pathogens, some of which are resistant to antibiotics. Additionally, the presence of LAB in the beehive and their relationship with antibacterial properties of honey and pollen is discussed. Finally, we describe the use of lactic bacteria from bee colonies and their antimicrobial effect against foodborne pathogens and human health. This review broadens knowledge by highlighting the importance of honeybee colonies as suppliers of LAB and functional food. 2013).Lactic acid bacteria are included into the order Lactobacillales, which encompasses the Aerococcaceae, Arnobacteriaceae, Enterococcaceae, Lactobacillaceae, Leuconostocaceae and Streptococcaceae families. The best known genera of LAB are Carnobacterium, Enterococcus, Lactobacillus, Pediococcus, Leuconostoc, Oenococcus, Weissella, Lactococcus and Streptococcus (Whitman 2015).

show abstract

Identifying bacterial predictors of honey bee health

Cited by 36 publications

References 29 publications

Transitions in symbiosis: evidence for environmental acquisition & social transmission within a clade of heritable symbionts

Transitions in symbiosis: evidence for environmental acquisition & social transmission within a clade of heritable symbionts

Dynamics of the Honeybee (Apis mellifera) Gut Microbiota Throughout the Overwintering Period in Canada

Current status and application of lactic acid bacteria in animal production systems with a focus on bacteria from honey bee colonies

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About