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Han L, Chang ZM, Ren CS, Chen XS, Smagghe G, Yuan YG, Long JK. Colony performance of three native bumblebee species from South China and association with their gut microbiome. INSECT SCIENCE 2024. [PMID: 38516802 DOI: 10.1111/1744-7917.13351] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2023] [Revised: 01/09/2024] [Accepted: 02/02/2024] [Indexed: 03/23/2024]
Abstract
Bumblebees play an important ecological economic role as pollinators in nature and agriculture. For reasons of biosecurity, many countries promote the cultivation of native bumblebee species for crop pollination instead of importing "alien" species. In South China, a few bumblebee species are considered useful in this way, particularly, Bombus atripes, Bombus bicoloratus and Bombus breviceps. However, whether they are suitable for artificial rearing and forming healthy colonies for pollination, remains unknown. In this project, queens from the 3 native species of Guizhou Province were collected and colonies were started under standardized conditions. The colonies were scored based on 19 parameters, including the stage of colony development, number and weight of offspring, and diet consumed. The data revealed that B. breviceps had the best performance, produced more workers and consumed the smallest diet. Next, we performed 16S rDNA sequencing of the bacterial communities found in the guts of offspring workers, and then a correlation analysis between colony performance and gut bacteria was conducted. Here, B. breviceps showed the highest diversity in gut bacterial composition, dominated by the bacteria Gilliamella, Snodgrassella, Enterobacter, and Lactobacillus Firm5. The higher the abundance of Snodgrassella, the better the performance of the colony in the foundation stage, and later Lactobacillus Firm5, Apibacter and Bifidobacterium were beneficial during the stages of rapid growth and colony decline. Although we do not understand all of the interactions yet, these correlations explain why B. breviceps demonstrated better colony performance. Our data provide valuable information for breeding local Bombus species and will contribute to developing strong colonies for crop pollination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lei Han
- Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction in the Plateau Mountainous Region, Ministry of Education/College of Animal Science, Guizhou University, Guiyang, China
| | - Zhi-Min Chang
- Institute of Entomology/Provincial Special Key Laboratory for Developing and Utilization of Insect Resources, Guizhou University, Guiyang, China
| | - Chang-Shi Ren
- Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction in the Plateau Mountainous Region, Ministry of Education/College of Animal Science, Guizhou University, Guiyang, China
| | - Xiang-Sheng Chen
- Institute of Entomology/Provincial Special Key Laboratory for Developing and Utilization of Insect Resources, Guizhou University, Guiyang, China
| | - Guy Smagghe
- Institute of Entomology/Provincial Special Key Laboratory for Developing and Utilization of Insect Resources, Guizhou University, Guiyang, China
| | - Yi-Ge Yuan
- Institute of Entomology/Provincial Special Key Laboratory for Developing and Utilization of Insect Resources, Guizhou University, Guiyang, China
| | - Jian-Kun Long
- Institute of Entomology/Provincial Special Key Laboratory for Developing and Utilization of Insect Resources, Guizhou University, Guiyang, China
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Gekière A, Vanderplanck M, Hettiarachchi A, Semay I, Gerbaux P, Michez D, Joossens M, Vandamme P. A case study of the diet-microbiota-parasite interplay in bumble bees. J Appl Microbiol 2023; 134:lxad303. [PMID: 38066692 DOI: 10.1093/jambio/lxad303] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2023] [Revised: 12/05/2023] [Accepted: 12/07/2023] [Indexed: 12/20/2023]
Abstract
AIMS Diets and parasites influence the gut bacterial symbionts of bumble bees, but potential interactive effects remain overlooked. The main objective of this study was to assess the isolated and interactive effects of sunflower pollen, its phenolamides, and the widespread trypanosomatid Crithidia sp. on the gut bacterial symbionts of Bombus terrestris males. METHODS AND RESULTS Bumble bee males emerged in microcolonies fed on either (i) willow pollen (control), (ii) sunflower pollen, or (iii) willow pollen spiked with phenolamide extracts from sunflower pollen. These microcolonies were infected by Crithidia sp. or were pathogen-free. Using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing (V3-V4 region), we observed a significant alteration of the beta diversity but not of the alpha diversity in the gut microbial communities of males fed on sunflower pollen compared to males fed on control pollen. Similarly, infection by the gut parasite Crithidia sp. altered the beta diversity but not the alpha diversity in the gut microbial communities of males, irrespective of the diet. By contrast, we did not observe any significant alteration of the beta or alpha diversity in the gut microbial communities of males fed on phenolamide-enriched pollen compared to males fed on control pollen. Changes in the beta diversity indicate significant dissimilarities of the bacterial taxa between the treatment groups, while the lack of difference in alpha diversity demonstrates no significant changes within each treatment group. CONCLUSIONS Bumble bees harbour consistent gut microbiota worldwide, but our results suggest that the gut bacterial communities of bumble bees are somewhat shaped by their diets and gut parasites as well as by the interaction of these two factors. This study confirms that bumble bees are suitable biological surrogates to assess the effect of diet and parasite infections on gut microbial communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antoine Gekière
- Laboratory of Zoology, Research Institute for Biosciences, University of Mons, Mons, Belgium, 20 Place du Parc, 7000 Mons, Belgium
| | - Maryse Vanderplanck
- CEFE, CNRS, Univ Montpellier, EPHE, IRD, Montpellier, France, 1919 Route de Mende, 34293 Montpellier, France
| | - Amanda Hettiarachchi
- Laboratory of Microbiology, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Faculty of Sciences, Ghent University, 35 K.L. Ledeganckstraat, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Irène Semay
- Organic Synthesis and Mass Spectrometry Laboratory, Research Institute for Biosciences, University of Mons, Mons, Belgium, 20 Place du Parc, 7000 Mons, Belgium
| | - Pascal Gerbaux
- Organic Synthesis and Mass Spectrometry Laboratory, Research Institute for Biosciences, University of Mons, Mons, Belgium, 20 Place du Parc, 7000 Mons, Belgium
| | - Denis Michez
- Laboratory of Zoology, Research Institute for Biosciences, University of Mons, Mons, Belgium, 20 Place du Parc, 7000 Mons, Belgium
| | - Marie Joossens
- Laboratory of Microbiology, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Faculty of Sciences, Ghent University, 35 K.L. Ledeganckstraat, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Peter Vandamme
- Laboratory of Microbiology, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Faculty of Sciences, Ghent University, 35 K.L. Ledeganckstraat, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
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