Effects of Tropilaelaps mercedesae on midgut bacterial diversity of Apis mellifera

• Published in: Experimental & applied acarology 2019-10, Vol.79 (2), p.169-186
• Main Authors: Ma, Shilong, Yang, Yang, Jack, Cameron J., Diao, Qingyun, Fu, Zhongmin, Dai, Pingli
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animal Ecology; Animal Genetics and Genomics; Animal Systematics/Taxonomy/Biogeography; Animals; Apis mellifera; Bacteria; Bacteria - classification; Bacteria - genetics; Bacteria - isolation & purification; Bacterial Physiological Phenomena; Bees; Bees - microbiology; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Change detection; China; Communities; Developmental stages; Ectoparasites; Entomology; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Honey; Infestation; Intestine; Lactobacillus; Larvae; Life Sciences; Midgut; Mites; Mites - physiology; Relative abundance; RNA, Bacterial - analysis; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S - analysis; rRNA 16S; Sphingomonas; Tropilaelaps mercedesae; Workers (insect caste)
• ISSN: 0168-8162; 1572-9702
• DOI: 10.1007/s10493-019-00424-x

Tropilaelaps mercedesae is an ectoparasite of Apis mellifera in Asia and is considered a major threat to honey bee health. Herein, we used the Illumina MiSeq platform 16S rDNA Amplicon Sequencing targeting the V3–V4 regions and analysed the effects on the midgut bacterial communities of honey bees infested with T. mercedesae . The overall bacterial community in honey bees infested with T. mercedesae were observed at different developmental stages. Honey bee core intestinal bacterial genera such as Gilliamella , Lactobacillus and Frischella were detected. Tropilaelaps mercedesae infestation changed the bacterial communities in the midgut of A. mellifera . Tropilaelaps mercedesae -infested pupae had greatly increased relative abundances of Micrococcus and Sphingomonas , whereas T. mercedesae -infested 15-day-old workers had significantly reduced relative abundance of non-core microbes: Corynebacterium , Sphingomonas , Acinetobacter and Enhydrobacter compared to T. mercedesae -infested newly emerged bees. The bacterial community was significantly changed at the various T. mercedesae -infested developmental stages of A. mellifera . Tropilaelaps mercedesae infestation also changed the non-core bacterial community from larvae to newly emerged honey bees. Bacterial communities were significantly different between T. mercedes a -infested and non-mite-infested 15-day-old workers. Lactobacillus was dominant in T. mercedesae -infested 15-day-old workers compared to non-mite-infested 15-day-old workers.