title: Rearing and foraging affects bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) gut microbiota.
abstract: Bumblebees are ecologically and economically important as pollinators of crop and wild plants, especially in temperate systems. Species, such as the buff-tailed bumblebee (Bombus terrestris), are reared commercially to pollinate high-value crops. Their highly specific gut microbiota, characterized by low diversity, may affect nutrition and immunity and are likely to be important for fitness and colony health. However, little is known about how environmental factors affect bacterial community structure. We analysed the gut microbiota from three groups of worker bumblebees (B. terrestris) from distinct colonies that varied in rearing and foraging characteristics: commercially reared with restricted foraging (RR); commercially reared with outside foraging (RF); and wild-caught workers (W). Contrary to previous studies, which indicate that bacterial communities are highly conserved across workers, we found that RF individuals had an intermediate community structure compared with RR and W types. Further, this was shaped by differences in the abundances of common operational taxonomic units (OTUs) and the diversity of rare OTUs present, which we propose results from an increase in the variety of carbohydrates obtained through foraging.
authors.affiliation: NERC Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Wallingford, OX10 8BB, UK.
authors.forename: Lindsay K
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Newbold
authors.affiliation: NERC Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Wallingford, OX10 8BB, UK.
authors.forename: Anna E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Oliver
authors.affiliation: NERC Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Wallingford, OX10 8BB, UK.
authors.forename: Leah
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cuthbertson
authors.affiliation: NERC Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Wallingford, OX10 8BB, UK.
authors.forename: Sarah E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Walkington
authors.affiliation: NERC Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Wallingford, OX10 8BB, UK.
authors.forename: Hyun S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Gweon
authors.affiliation: NERC Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Wallingford, OX10 8BB, UK.
authors.forename: Matthew S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Heard
authors.affiliation: NERC Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Wallingford, OX10 8BB, UK.
authors.forename: Christopher J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: van der Gast
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001516:Bees / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000502:physiology; D058448:Biota; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D000069196:Gastrointestinal Microbiome; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA