Fructose-associated Fructobacillus in the gut microbiome of bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) inhabiting natural forest meadows and agricultural landscape

Taxonomic summary of the bacterial community of bumblebee gut microbiome: Commercially produced colonies of buff-tailed bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) were placed in three habitats. Whole guts (midgut, hindgut, and rectum) of B. terrestris specimens were dissected from the body and analyzed using 16S phylogenetic community analysis. We observed significantly different bacterial community composition between the agricultural landscapes (apple orchards and oilseed rape (Brassica napus) fields) and forest meadows, whereas differences in gut communities between the orchards and oilseed rape fields were nonsignificant.