The different dietary sugars modulate the composition of the gut microbiota in honeybee during overwintering

Abstract

Background: The health of honeybee colonies is critical for bee products and agricultural production, and colony health is closely associated with the bacteria in the guts of honeybees. Although colony loss in winter is now the primary restriction in beekeeping, the effects of different sugars as winter food on the health of honeybee colonies are not well understood. Therefore, in this study, the influence of different sugar diets on honeybee gut bacteria during overwintering was examined. Results: The bacterial communities in honeybee midguts and hindguts before winter and after bees were fed honey, sucrose, and high-fructose syrup as winter-food were determined by targeting the V3-V4 region of 16S rDNA using the Illumina MiSeq platform. The dominant microbiota in honeybee guts were the phyla Proteobacteria (63.17%), Firmicutes (17.61%; Lactobacillus, 15.91%), Actinobacteria (4.06%; Bifidobacterium, 3.34%), and Bacteroidetes (1.72%). The dominant taxa were conserved and not affected by season, type of overwintering sugar, or spatial position in the gut. However, the relative abundance of the dominant taxa was affected by those factors. In the midgut, microbial diversity of the sucrose group was higher than that of the honey and high-fructose syrup groups, but in the hindgut, microbial diversity of the honey and high-fructose groups was higher than that in the sucrose group. Sucrose increased the relative abundance of Actinobacteria (Bifidobacteriales Bifidobacteriaceae) and Alphaproteobacteria (Rhizobiales and Mitochondria) of honeybee midgut, and honey enriched the Bacteroidetes and Gammaproteobacteria (Pasteurellales) in honeybee hindgut. High-fructose syrup increased the relative abundance of Betaproteobacteria (Neisseriales: Neisseriaceae) of the midgut. Conclusion: The type of sugar used as winter food affected the relative abundance of the dominant bacterial communities in honeybee guts, not the taxa, which could affect the health and safety of honeybee colonies during overwintering. The presence of the supernal Alphaproteobacteria, Bifidobacteriales, and Lactobacillaceae in the gut of honeybees fed sucrose and cheaper than honey both indicate that sucrose is very suitable as the overwintering food for honeybees.

Antimicrobial Activity against Paenibacillus larvae and Functional Properties of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum Strains: Potential Benefits for Honeybee Health

“…In recent years, beekeeping has become a fundamental need to intervene with an additional carbohydrate supplement for bees to integrate insufficient stocks, for spring and autumn stimulation of colonies or to completely replace stocks. The most widely used syrups contain sucrose, glucose and fructose [109,110]. The viability of probiotic organisms is a very important aspect; before resisting the gastrointestinal tract, they must be able to survive during manufacturing and storage of probiotic products in order to express health benefits for the host.…”

Characterization of Apis mellifera Gastrointestinal Microbiota and Lactic Acid Bacteria for Honeybee Protection—A Review

“…They are noncore members of honeybee gut [ 64 ]. Wang et al [ 70 , 71 ] showed that the dominant phyla in honeybee GIT are Proteobacteria (63.2%), Firmicutes—(17.6%, with 15.9% of Lactobacillus sp. ), Actinobacteria (4.1%, with 3.34% of Bifidobacterium sp.…”

“…This significantly expands the host’s biochemical capacity [ 100 ]. The fermentation of indigestible carbohydrates and oligosaccharides by bacteria belonging to the genera Bacteroides , Roseburia , Bifidobacterium , and Faecalibacterium results in the formation of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) including butyrate, propionate, and acetate [ 71 , 101 ]. These substances provide rich sources of energy for the host.…”

“…[ 86 ]. Furthermore, diet (type of sugar used in winter forage, nutritional stressors, poor-quality diet, and propolis-rich and propolis-poor diets) has been shown to determine the profile of the dominant honeybee gut community [ 71 , 116 , 117 ]. A high-fat diet (palm oil) significantly increased the abundance of Gilliamella sp., while a decreased abundance of Bartonella sp.…”

Caste-specific gut symbionts contribute to the different adult longevity in the honeybee

“…Our latest study found that sucrose as overwintering feed increased the Acetobacteraceae abundance in worker guts compared with that of honey and fructose syrup, and honeybee colonies with higher Acetobacteraceae abundances exhibited less overwintering loss. These results suggest that increasing the Acetobacteraceae abundance in honeybee guts maybe prolong the life of the bees [15]. In summary, associations between microbial community compositions and longevity remain uncertain.…”