Bee-associated fungi mediate effects of fungicides on bumble bees

Here, we test the hypothesis that fungicides impact bumble bee health by disrupting bee-fungi interactions. We examine the interactive effects of the fungicide propiconazole and fungal supplementation on the survival, reproduction, and gut microbiome composition of microcolonies (queenless colonies) using two species, Bombus vosnesenskii and B. impatiens. We examined fungal crop and gut microbiomes using Illumina sequencing of the ITS2 region, and examined bacterial microbiomes through Illumina sequencing of the 16S V6-V8 region.