Development of the honey bee gut microbiome throughout the queen-rearing process.

ABSTRACT: The European honey bee (Apis mellifera) is used extensively to produce hive products and for crop pollination, but pervasive concerns about colony health and population decline have sparked an interest in the microbial communities that are associated with these important insects. Currently, only the microbiome of workers has been characterized, while little to nothing is known about the bacterial communities that are associated with queens, even though their health and proper function are central to colony productivity. Here, we provide a large-scale analysis of the gut microbiome of honey bee queens during their developmental trajectory and through the multiple colonies that host them as part of modern queen-rearing practices. We found that queen microbiomes underwent a dramatic shift in

SUBMITTER: Tarpy DR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4393441 | biostudies-literature | 2015 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature