Bumblebees with the socially transmitted microbiome: A novel model organism for gut microbiota research

Abstract

Eusocial bumble and honey bees are important pollinators for global ecology and the agricultural economy. Although both the bumble and honey bees possess similar and host‐restricted gut microbiota, they differ in aspects of morphology, autonomy, physiology, behavior, and life cycle. The social bee gut bacteria exhibit host specificity that is likely a result of long‐term co‐evolution. The unique life cycle of bumblebees is key for the acquisition and development of their gut microbiota, and affects the strain‐level diversity of the core bacterial species. Studies on bumblebee gut bacteria show that they retain less functional capacity for carbohydrate metabolism compared with that of the honeybee. We discuss the potential roles of the bumblebee gut microbiota against pathogenic threats and the application of host‐specific probiotics for bumblebees. Given the advantages of the bumblebee microbiome, including the simple structure and host specificity, and the ease of manipulating bumblebee colonies, we propose that bumblebees may provide a valuable system for understanding the general principles of host–microbe interactions, gut–brain axis, and vertical transmission.

Diesel exhaust particles alter gut microbiome and gene expression in the bumblebee Bombus terrestris

“…Snodgrassella , together with Gilliamella , forms a biofilm coating the inner wall of the ileum (Hammer et al 2021, Martinson et al 2012. Both, host and symbionts could profit from this biofilm formation as it prevents bacteria from washout and enables the formation of a syntrophic network (Kwong et al 2014, Powell et al 2016, Zhang et al 2022. Additionally, the biofilm could protect the host against gut parasites, such as C. bombi, who need to attach to the gut wall to persist (Koch et al 2019, Näpflin & Schmid-Hempel 2018.…”

“…Social bumblebees (Bombus spp.) and honeybees (Apis mellifera ) are model organisms to study gut microbiota as their gut microbiome is rather simple and highly conserved (Engel et al 2016, Kwong & Moran 2016, Zhang & Zheng 2022. A few core bacterial taxa dominate the gut microbiome of bumblebees: Snodgrassella , Gilliamella ,Schmidhempelia , Bifidobacteriaceae (Bifidobacterium and Bombiscardovia ) and two clusters within Lactobacillaceae (Hammer et al 2021, Koch & Schmid-Hempel 2011a, Martinson et al 2011.…”

“…A few core bacterial taxa dominate the gut microbiome of bumblebees: Snodgrassella , Gilliamella ,Schmidhempelia , Bifidobacteriaceae (Bifidobacterium and Bombiscardovia ) and two clusters within Lactobacillaceae (Hammer et al 2021, Koch & Schmid-Hempel 2011a, Martinson et al 2011. While many functions of the bacterial symbionts in bumblebees have been proposed, only very few have been demonstrated in experiments (Hammer 2021, Zhang & Zheng 2022. Resistance to the common trypanosomatid parasiteCrithidia bombi is higher in bumblebees with an intact microbiome compared to microbiota-free individuals (Koch & Schmid-Hempel 2011b).…”

Gut microbiota is a potential factor in shaping phenotypic variation in larvae and adults of female bumble bees

“…Shared social communities and environments generally contribute to common gut microbiota (Degnan et al, 2012;Zhang and Zheng, 2022). In support of this view, the gut microbiota sampled from social species of bees, such as honey bees and bumble bees, tend to be hostspecific (Koch et al, 2013).…”

Diesel exhaust particles alter gut microbiome and gene expression in the bumblebee Bombus terrestris

“…While many functions of the bacterial symbionts in bumblebees have been proposed, only very few have been demonstrated in experiments (Hammer et al, 2021;Zhang & Zheng, 2022). The gut microbiome of bumblebees may be important for detoxification as microbiota-free individuals had lower survival when exposed to toxic concentrations of selenate (Rothman et al, 2019).…”