Dynamic microbiome evolution in social bees

Author(s)

Kwong, Waldan K. ^{[1, 2]} ; Medina, Luis A. ^[1] ; Koch, Hauke ^{[1, 3]} ; Sing, Kong-Wah ^{[4, 5]} ; Soh, Eunice Jia Yu ^[6] ; Ascher, John S. ^[6] ; Jaffe, Rodolfo ^{[7, 8]} ; Moran, Nancy A. ^[1]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Texas Austin, Dept Integrat Biol, Austin, TX 78712 - USA

^[2] Yale Univ, Dept Ecol & Evolutionary Biol, New Haven, CT 06511 - USA

^[3] Royal Bot Gardens, Richmond TW9 3AB, Surrey - England

^[4] Univ Malaya, Inst Biol Sci, Fac Sci, Kuala Lumpur 50603 - Malaysia

^[5] Chinese Acad Agr Sci, Inst Plant Protect, State Key Lab Biol Plant Dis & Insect Pests, Beijing 100193 - Peoples R China

^[6] Natl Univ Singapore, Dept Biol Sci, Singapore 117543 - Singapore

^[7] Univ Sao Paulo, Dept Ecol, Rua Matao 321, BR-05508090 Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

^[8] Vale Inst Technol, Sustainable Dev, BR-66055090 Belem, Para - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: SCIENCE ADVANCES; v. 3, n. 3 MAR 2017.
• Web of Science Citations: 56

Abstract

The highly social (eusocial) corbiculate bees, comprising the honey bees, bumble bees, and stingless bees, are ubiquitous insect pollinators that fulfill critical roles in ecosystem services and human agriculture. Here, we conduct wide sampling across the phylogeny of these corbiculate bees and reveal a dynamic evolutionary history behind their microbiota, marked by multiple gains and losses of gut associates, the presence of generalist as well as host-specific strains, and patterns of diversification driven, in part, by host ecology (for example, colony size). Across four continents, we found that different host species have distinct gut communities, largely independent of geography or sympatry. Nonetheless, their microbiota has a shared heritage: The emergence of the eusocial corbiculate bees from solitary ancestors appears to coincide with the acquisition of five core gut bacterial lineages, supporting the hypothesis that host sociality facilitates the development and maintenance of specialized microbiomes. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 12/13200-5 - Promoting meliponiculture to achieve rural sustainable development
• Grantee: Rodolfo Jaffé Ribbi
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• FAPESP's process: 13/23661-2 - Landscape genetics to safeguard bee pollination services
• Grantee: Rodolfo Jaffé Ribbi
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor