Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2018 Apr:26:97-104.
doi: 10.1016/j.cois.2018.02.012. Epub 2018 Feb 8.

The role of the gut microbiome in health and disease of adult honey bee workers

Kasie Raymann  1 , Nancy A Moran  2
Affiliations
Review

The role of the gut microbiome in health and disease of adult honey bee workers

Kasie Raymann et al. Curr Opin Insect Sci. 2018 Apr.

Abstract

The role of the gut microbiome in animal health has become increasingly evident. Unlike most other insects, honey bees possess a highly conserved and specialized core gut microbiome, which consists of nine bacterial species and is acquired mostly through social transmission. Five of these species are ubiquitous in honey bees and are also present in bumble bees. Recent studies have shown that the bee gut microbiome plays a role in metabolism, immune function, growth and development, and protection against pathogens. Disruption of the gut microbiome has also been shown to have detrimental effects on bee health. Overall, evidence suggests that the gut microbiome plays an important role in bee health and disease.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic showing distribution of bacterial communities in the honey bee worker gut. The ileum and rectum are two regions of the hindgut. For detailed overview see Kwong and Moran [2••].
Figure 2
Figure 2
Overview of roles of the gut microbiome in honey bee health.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Cho I, Blaser MJ. The human microbiome: at the interface of health and disease. Nat Rev Genet. 2012;13:260–270. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Kwong WK, Moran NA. Gut microbial communities of social bees. Nat Rev Microbiol. 2016;14:374–384. Comprehensive review of the structure, transmission, and evolution of the gut microbial communities of social bees. The various metabolic functions of core members of the bee gut microbiome are predicted based on genomic culture-based studies. This review also discusses the usefulness of the bee as a model system to study gut microbial communities. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Martinson VG, Moy J, Moran NA. Establishment of characteristic gut bacteria during development of the honeybee worker. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2012;78:2830–2840. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Tarpy DF, Mattila HR, Newton ILG. Development of the honey bee gut microbiome throughout the queen-rearing process. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2015;81:3182–3191. Provides a description of the gut microbiome composition of honey bee queens. This study shows that queens possess a specific microbiome that is very different from workers, and that the queen microbiome composition shifts dramatically as queens age. The authors found no correlation between the queen microbiome and the microbiome of workers who cared for them. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Kapheim KM, Rao VD, Yeoman CJ, Wilson BA, White BA, Goldenfeld N, Robinson GE. Caste-specific differences in hindgut microbial communities of honey bees (Apis mellifera) PLoS ONE. 2015;10:e0123911. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources