Chinese and US scientists reveal two gut community enterotypes recurring in diverse bumblebee species
DATE:2015-08-26 SOURCE:Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, MOA
A recent joint study found two gut community enterotypes recurring in diverse bumblebee species.
The study was conducted by a joint team led by Dr. Li Jilian with the Institute of Apicultural Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, Dr. Zhang Zhigang with State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Dr. Nancy Moran, a Member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. Previous studies have identified enterotypes in human beings as well as gorillas. Their findings, for the first time, have identified specialized enterotypes of gut microbiota in pollinating insect bumblebees, and will provide a new perspective of gut microbial communities for future pollinating insect researches.
The academic journal Current Biology reported the major findings of the study.
Bumblebees, like other pollinating insects are key to the evolutionary and ecological success of flowering plants and contribute to sustainable food production for human beings.
According to the study, bumblebees harbor a simple yet specialized gut microbiota dominated by several newly described bacterial species, including Gilliamella apicola, Frischella perrara, Snodgrassella alvi and specialized species of Lactobacillus. Two conservative enterotypes were observed in 28 species of bumblebees. Enterotype 1 is dominated by enterobacterial genera comprising G. apicola and S. alvi, which were also observed in honeybees, while Enterotype 2 comprises mainly environmental bacteria genera, including some conditional pathogenic bacteria such as Hafnia and Serratia.
Dr. Li Jilian, the first author of the study noted that the two gut community enterotypes observed in bumblebees were highly consistent with those in mammals, which may have potential effects on the health and population dynamics of bumblebees.