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Effects of Tropilaelaps mercedesae on midgut bacterial diversity of Apis mellifera

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Abstract

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. Tropilaelapsmercedesae infestation changed the bacterial communities in the midgut of A. mellifera. Tropilaelapsmercedesae-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. Tropilaelapsmercedesae infestation also changed the non-core bacterial community from larvae to newly emerged honey bees. Bacterial communities were significantly different between T. mercedesa-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.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Pinhong Wang, Guirong Li and Yujuan Qiu (Institute of Apicultural Research, China Academy of Agricultural Sciences) for beekeeping. This work was supported by the Beijing Natural Science Foundation (No. 6162026), the Central Public-interest Scientific Institution Basal Research Fund (IAR-CPSIBRF-2017-1) and the Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Program (CAAS-ASTIP-2017-IAR).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Pollinating Insect Biology of Agriculture, Institute of Apicultural Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100093, China

    Shilong Ma, Yang Yang, Qingyun Diao & Pingli Dai

  2. Bee Academy, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002, China

    Shilong Ma & Zhongmin Fu

  3. Honey Bee Research and Extension Laboratory, Entomology and Nematology Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA

    Cameron J. Jack

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  1. Shilong Ma
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Ma, S., Yang, Y., Jack, C.J. et al. Effects of Tropilaelaps mercedesae on midgut bacterial diversity of Apis mellifera. Exp Appl Acarol 79, 169–186 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-019-00424-x

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