The Bee Microbiome: Impact on Bee Health and Model for Evolution and Ecology of Host-Microbe Interactions.
As pollinators, bees are cornerstones for terrestrial ecosystem stability and key components in agricultural productivity. All animals, including bees, are associated with a diverse community of microbes, commonly referred to as the microbiome. The bee microbiome is likely to be a crucial factor affecting host health. However, with the exception of a few pathogens, the impacts of most members of the bee microbiome on host health are poorly understood. Further, the evolutionary and ecological forces that shape and change the microbiome are unclear. Here, we discuss recent progress in our understanding of the bee microbiome, and we present challenges associated with its investigation. We conclude that global coordination of research efforts is needed to fully understand the complex and highly dynamic nature of the interplay between the bee microbiome, its host, and the environment. High-throughput sequencing technologies are ideal for exploring complex biological systems, including host-microbe interactions. To maximize their value and to improve assessment of the factors affecting bee health, sequence data should be archived, curated, and analyzed in ways that promote the synthesis of different studies. To this end, the BeeBiome consortium aims to develop an online database which would provide reference sequences, archive metadata, and host analytical resources. The goal would be to support applied and fundamental research on bees and their associated microbes and to provide a collaborative framework for sharing primary data from different research programs, thus furthering our understanding of the bee microbiome and its impact on pollinator health.
Department of Fundamental Microbiology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland philipp.engel@unil.ch benjamin.dainat@agroscope.admin.ch.
Philipp
P
Engel
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA.
Waldan K
WK
Kwong
Department of Entomology, University of California, Riverside, California, USA.
Quinn
Q
McFrederick
USDA, Carl Hayden Bee Research Center, Tucson, Arizona, USA.
Kirk E
KE
Anderson
Department of Biology, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA.
Seth Michael
SM
Barribeau
Department of Microbiology, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, California, USA.
James Angus
JA
Chandler
U.S. Geological Survey, Fort Collins Science Center, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA.
R Scott
RS
Cornman
Bioinformatics Infrastructure for Life Sciences (BILS), Linköpings Universitet Victoria Westling, Linköping, Sweden, and Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
Jacques
J
Dainat
Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
Joachim R
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0335-0386
JR
de Miranda
Institute for Biology, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Germany German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
Vincent
V
Doublet
Department of Fundamental Microbiology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Olivier
O
Emery
USDA, ARS Bee Research Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland, USA.
Jay D
JD
Evans
Fasteris SA, Plan -les-Ouates, Switzerland.
Laurent
L
Farinelli
Department of Plant Sciences and Plant Pathology, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana, USA.
Michelle L
ML
Flenniken
SLU, BVF, Virologi, Uppsala, Sweden.
Fredrik
F
Granberg
Department of Biology, North Life Sciences, San Diego State University, San Diego, California, USA.
Juris A
JA
Grasis
Department of Fundamental Microbiology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
Laurent
L
Gauthier
SLU, Institutionen för Husdjursgenetik, Uppsala, Sweden.
Juliette
J
Hayer
Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, United Kingdom.
Hauke
H
Koch
Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge , Massachusetts , USA.
Sarah
S
Kocher
Department of Biology, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York, USA.
Vincent G
VG
Martinson
Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA.
Nancy
N
Moran
Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley , California , USA.
Monica
M
Munoz-Torres
Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA.
Irene
I
Newton
Institute for Biology, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Germany German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
Robert J
RJ
Paxton
Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA.
Eli
E
Powell
School of Biological Sciences, Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois, USA.
Ben M
BM
Sadd
ETHZ Institut für Integrative Biologie, Zurich, Switzerland.
Paul
P
Schmid-Hempel
ETHZ Institut für Integrative Biologie, Zurich, Switzerland.
Regula
R
Schmid-Hempel
University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, USA.
Se Jin
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0750-5709
SJ
Song
USDA, ARS Bee Research Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland, USA.
Ryan S
RS
Schwarz
Department of Entomology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA.
Dennis
D
vanEngelsdorp
Agroscope, Swiss Bee Research Centre, Bern, Switzerland Bee Health Extension Service, Apiservice, Bern , Switzerland philipp.engel@unil.ch benjamin.dainat@agroscope.admin.ch.
Benjamin
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1740-7136
B
Dainat
D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D001516:Bees / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000502:physiology*; D005075:Biological Evolution; D064307:Microbiota; D054817:Pollination; D013559:Symbiosis