Dominance of Fructose-Associated Fructobacillus in the Gut Microbiome of Bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) Inhabiting Natural Forest Meadows.

ABSTRACT: Bumblebees are key pollinators in agricultural landscapes. However, little is known about how gut microbial communities respond to anthropogenic changes. We used commercially produced colonies of buff-tailed bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) placed in three habitats. Whole guts (midgut, hindgut, and rectum) of B. terrestris specimens were dissected from the body and analyzed using 16S phylogenetic community analysis. We observed significantly different bacterial community composition between the agricultural landscapes (apple orchards and oilseed rape (Brassica napus) fields) and forest meadows, whereas differences in gut communities between the orchards and oilseed rape fields were nonsignificant. Bee-specific bacterial genera such as Lactobacillus, Snodgrassella, and Gilliamella dominated g

SUBMITTER: Krams R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8779478 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature