Honeybee and beebread microbiome Metagenome. bee metagenome

Many insects (i.e. termites, leaf-cutter ants, aphids, etc.) have evolved non-pathogenic associations with microorganisms that provide benefits for both partners. The microbial gut community of Apis mellifera might be involved in nutritional processes, such as breakdown and utilization of pollen grains, degradation of toxic compounds found in the environment and hampering pathogens development. Although evidences of changes in the nutritional composition of pollen guided by microbial activity exist, the microbiota actively involved in this process (inhabiting the beebread and guts of A. mellifera) were not yet totally identified. This survey aimed to assess the diversity and structure as well as to estimate the function of the microbial communities inhabiting both the bee guts and the beebread by using state of the art ‘post-light’ based sequencing technology. The 16S rRNA database was used to predict the microbial functions within the bee gut and the beebread by. This was the first survey performed in Brazil with Africanized populations of honeybees.