Fungal community structure in bees: influence of biome and host species

• Published in: Symbiosis (Philadelphia, Pa.) Pa.), 2024-09, Vol.94 (1), p.31-50
• Main Authors: Roque, Wellington Fava, de Moura, James Moraes, Santos-Silva, Lorhaine, da Silva, Gilvan Ferreira, de Carvalho, Lucas Amoroso Lopes, Pinheiro, Daniel Guariz, Wobeto, Carmen, Soares, Marcos Antônio
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Apis; Asteraceae; Aureobasidium; Basidiomycota; Beehives; bees; Biomedical and Life Sciences; cerrado; Community structure; Developmental Biology; Ecology; Ecosystems; Elaeocarpaceae; Evolutionary Biology; fungal communities; Hanseniaspora; honey; hosts; Industrial applications; Life Sciences; Microbiology; Microenvironments; microhabitats; Pantanal; Plant Sciences; propolis; Scaptotrigona; Solanaceae; Species; species diversity; Starmerella; symbiosis; Tetragona; Tetragonisca; Trigona; yeasts
• ISSN: 0334-5114; 1878-7665
• DOI: 10.1007/s13199-024-01012-3

Understanding the ecological relationship between fungi and insects is essential for elucidating interactions in biodiverse regions such as South American biomes. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of biome, host species, and microhabitat on the community structure of yeasts (using culture-dependent methods) and fungi (culture-independent methods) in bees and to identify the functional characteristics of isolated strains. Samples were collected from the body, hive, honey, and beebread of bees from the genera Trigona , Scaptotrigona , Tetragona , Apis , Meliponas , and Tetragonisca in the Pantanal, Amazon, and Cerrado biomes. We isolated 176 strains representing 46 yeast species, predominantly from the genera Starmerella (44.32%), Hanseniaspora (5.16%), and Wickerhamiella (4.38%). Starmerella etchellsii (32%) was the most abundant species, while Aureobasidium leucospermi (