The queen's gut refines with age: longevity phenotypes in a social insect model.

ABSTRACT:

Background

In social insects, identical genotypes can show extreme lifespan variation providing a unique perspective on age-associated microbial succession. In honey bees, short- and long-lived host phenotypes are polarized by a suite of age-associated factors including hormones, nutrition, immune senescence, and oxidative stress. Similar to other model organisms, the aging gut microbiota of short-lived (worker) honey bees accrue Proteobacteria and are depleted of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, consistent with a suite of host senescence markers. In contrast, long-lived (queen) honey bees maintain youthful cellular function with much lower expression of oxidative stress genes, suggesting a very different host environment for age-associated microbial succession.

Results

We

SUBMITTER: Anderson KE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6006926 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature