title: Report on the microbiota of Melipona quadrifasciata affected by a recurrent disease.
abstract: Melipona quadrifasciata is an eusocial stingless bee traditionally used for honey production in Brazil. In the last decades, the species disappeared from the wild in Southern Brazil, being kept exclusively in managed colonies for commercial and recreational purposes. Stingless beekeepers from this region report annual losses of their colonies due to a syndrome of yet unknown causes. We investigate whether it is associated to pathogenic microorganisms already known to cause disease in bees. These results provide a starting point for future studies aimed at clarifying the relationship between the microbial community of stingless bees and their colony collapses.
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Genética e Biologia Molecular, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Bento Gonçalves 9500, CEP 91501-970 Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Sebastián
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Díaz
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Genética, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Bento Gonçalves 9500, CEP 91501-970 Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: de Souza Urbano
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Genética e Biologia Molecular, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Bento Gonçalves 9500, CEP 91501-970 Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Lílian
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Caesar
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biodiversidade e Ecologia, Faculdade de Biociências, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do RS, Av. Ipiranga 6681, CEP 90619-900 Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Betina
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Blochtein
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Apicultura, Departamento de Fitossanidade, Faculdade de Agronomia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Bento Gonçalves 7712, CEP 91540-000 Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Aroni
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sattler
authors.affiliation: Associação dos Meliponicultores do Vale do Taquari, Av. Casca 227, CEP 95920-000 Boqueirão do Leão, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Valmir
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Zuge
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Genética e Biologia Molecular, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Bento Gonçalves 9500, CEP 91501-970 Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil; Departamento de Genética, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Bento Gonçalves 9500, CEP 91501-970 Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. Electronic address: karen.haag@ufrgs.br.
authors.forename: Karen Luisa
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Haag
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000662:veterinary*; D001516:Bees / Q000382:microbiology*; D001938:Brazil; D056631:Colony Collapse / Q000382:microbiology*; D012329:RNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D012329:RNA, Bacterial; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S
keywords: Acetobacteriaceae; Colony collapse; Firmicutes; Melipona; Microbiota; Stingless bee