Interactions between fungi and bacteria influence microbial community structure in the Megachile rotundata larval gut.

ABSTRACT: Recent declines in bee populations coupled with advances in DNA-sequencing technology have sparked a renaissance in studies of bee-associated microbes. Megachile rotundata is an important field crop pollinator, but is stricken by chalkbrood, a disease caused by the fungus Ascosphaera aggregata. To test the hypothesis that some gut microbes directly or indirectly affect the growth of others, we applied four treatments to the pollen provisions of M. rotundata eggs and young larvae: antibacterials, antifungals, A. aggregata spores and a no-treatment control. We allowed the larvae to develop, and then used 454 pyrosequencing and quantitative PCR (for A. aggregata) to investigate fungal and bacterial communities in the larval gut. Antifungals lowered A. aggregata abundance but increased the div

SUBMITTER: McFrederick QS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3924070 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature