A Metagenomics approach in analyzing the gut symbionts of Tetragonula species in the Bicol Region, Philippines. insect gut metagenome

The study aims to inspect the gut microbial ecology of stingless bees from the Bicol Region of the Philippines. Similar to their cousins the honey bee and bumble bees, stingless bees are significant members of an ecosystem that promote pollination and propagation of plants. A next generation sequencing - metagenomics approached was taken for a more comprehensive and straightforward approach in obtaining the objective. Metagenomics analysis pipelines of QIIME2 and Mothur ran accessing both the GreenGenes and SILVA databases were used to identify taxonomic identifications of the OTUs obtained from the run.

本研究旨在探究菲律宾比科尔地区（Bicol Region）无刺蜂（stingless bees）的肠道微生物生态学。与它们的近亲蜜蜂（honey bee）和熊蜂（bumble bees）类似，无刺蜂是生态系统中的关键类群，可助力植物的授粉与繁衍。为更全面、高效地达成研究目标，本研究采用下一代测序（next generation sequencing）-宏基因组学（metagenomics）技术路线。本次分析使用基于QIIME2与Mothur的宏基因组分析流程，同时调用GreenGenes及SILVA数据库，对测序获得的操作分类单元（Operational Taxonomic Units, OTUs）开展物种分类鉴定工作。