Honey bee genetics shape the strain-level structure of gut microbiota in social transmission.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Honey bee gut microbiota transmitted via social interactions are beneficial to the host health. Although the microbial community is relatively stable, individual variations and high strain-level diversity have been detected across honey bees. Although the bee gut microbiota structure is influenced by environmental factors, the heritability of the gut members and the contribution of the host genetics remains elusive. Considering bees within a colony are not readily genetically identical due to the polyandry of the queen, we hypothesize that the microbiota structure can be shaped by host genetics.

Results

We used shotgun metagenomics to simultaneously profile the microbiota and host genotypes of bees from hives of four different subspecies. Gut composition is more d

SUBMITTER: Wu J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8597283 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature