Microbes and Environments
Online ISSN : 1347-4405
Print ISSN : 1342-6311
ISSN-L : 1342-6311
Regular Papers
The Honeybee Gut Microbiota Is Altered after Chronic Exposure to Different Families of Insecticides and Infection by Nosema ceranae
Régis RouzéAnne MonéFrédéric DelbacLuc BelzuncesNicolas Blot
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Supplementary material

2019 Volume 34 Issue 3 Pages 226-233

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Abstract

The gut of the European honeybee Apis mellifera is the site of exposure to multiple stressors, such as pathogens and ingested chemicals. Therefore, the gut microbiota, which contributes to host homeostasis, may be altered by these stressors. The abundance of major bacterial taxa in the gut was evaluated in response to infection with the intestinal parasite Nosema ceranae or chronic exposure to low doses of the neurotoxic insecticides coumaphos, fipronil, thiamethoxam, and imidacloprid. Experiments were performed under laboratory conditions on adult workers collected from hives in February (winter bees) and July (summer bees) and revealed season-dependent changes in the bacterial community composition. N. ceranae and a lethal fipronil treatment increased the relative abundance of both Gilliamella apicola and Snodgrassella alvi in surviving winter honeybees. The parasite and a sublethal exposure to all insecticides decreased the abundance of Bifidobacterium spp. and Lactobacillus spp. regardless of the season. The similar effects induced by insecticides belonging to distinct molecular families suggested a shared and indirect mode of action on the gut microbiota, possibly through aspecific alterations in gut homeostasis. These results demonstrate that infection and chronic exposure to low concentrations of insecticides may affect the honeybee holobiont.

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© 2019 by Japanese Society of Microbial Ecology / Japanese Society of Soil Microbiology / Taiwan Society of Microbial Ecology / Japanese Society of Plant Microbe Interactions.
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