Deep Divergence and Genomic Diversification of Gut Symbionts of Neotropical Stingless Bees.

Details

Serval ID
serval:BIB_43DDCAB27B31
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
Deep Divergence and Genomic Diversification of Gut Symbionts of Neotropical Stingless Bees.
Journal
mBio
Author(s)
Sarton-Lohéac G., Nunes da Silva C.G., Mazel F., Baud G., de Bakker V., Das S., El Chazli Y., Ellegaard K., Garcia-Garcera M., Glover N., Liberti J., Nacif Marçal L., Prasad A., Somerville V., Bonilla-Rosso G., Engel P.
Working group(s)
SAGE class 2019-2020 and 2020-2021
ISSN
2150-7511 (Electronic)
Publication state
Published
Issued date
25/04/2023
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
14
Number
2
Pages
e0353822
Language
english
Notes
Publication types: Journal Article ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Publication Status: ppublish
Abstract
Social bees harbor conserved gut microbiotas that may have been acquired in a common ancestor of social bees and subsequently codiversified with their hosts. However, most of this knowledge is based on studies on the gut microbiotas of honey bees and bumblebees. Much less is known about the gut microbiotas of the third and most diverse group of social bees, the stingless bees. Specifically, the absence of genomic data from their microbiotas presents an important knowledge gap in understanding the evolution and functional diversity of the social bee microbiota. Here, we combined community profiling with culturing and genome sequencing of gut bacteria from six neotropical stingless bee species from Brazil. Phylogenomic analyses show that most stingless bee gut isolates form deep-branching sister clades of core members of the honey bee and bumblebee gut microbiota with conserved functional capabilities, confirming the common ancestry and ecology of their microbiota. However, our bacterial phylogenies were not congruent with those of the host, indicating that the evolution of the social bee gut microbiota was not driven by strict codiversification but included host switches and independent symbiont gain and losses. Finally, as reported for the honey bee and bumblebee microbiotas, we found substantial genomic divergence among strains of stingless bee gut bacteria, suggesting adaptation to different host species and glycan niches. Our study offers first insights into the genomic diversity of the stingless bee microbiota and highlights the need for broader samplings to understand the evolution of the social bee gut microbiota. IMPORTANCE Stingless bees are the most diverse group of the corbiculate bees and represent important pollinator species throughout the tropics and subtropics. They harbor specialized microbial communities in their gut that are related to those found in honey bees and bumblebees and that are likely important for bee health. Few bacteria have been cultured from the gut of stingless bees, which has prevented characterization of their genomic diversity and functional potential. Here, we established cultures of major members of the gut microbiotas of six stingless bee species and sequenced their genomes. We found that most stingless bee isolates belong to novel bacterial species distantly related to those found in honey bees and bumblebees and encoding similar functional capabilities. Our study offers a new perspective on the evolution of the social bee gut microbiota and presents a basis for characterizing the symbiotic relationships between gut bacteria and stingless bees.
Keywords
Bees, Animals, Bacteria/genetics, Microbiota, Gastrointestinal Microbiome, Phylogeny, Genomics, bacteria, diversification, genome, gut microbiome, insects, phylogeny, stingless bee, symbiosis
Pubmed
Web of science
Open Access
Yes
Create date
24/03/2023 13:26
Last modification date
18/11/2023 8:08
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