Missing Microbes in Bees: How Systematic Depletion of Key Symbionts Erodes Immunity

Brendan A Daisley; John A Chmiel; Andrew P Pitek; Graham J Thompson; Gregor Reid

doi:10.1016/j.tim.2020.06.006

Missing Microbes in Bees: How Systematic Depletion of Key Symbionts Erodes Immunity

Trends Microbiol. 2020 Dec;28(12):1010-1021. doi: 10.1016/j.tim.2020.06.006. Epub 2020 Jul 14.

Authors

Brendan A Daisley¹, John A Chmiel¹, Andrew P Pitek², Graham J Thompson², Gregor Reid³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, N6A 5C1, Canada; Canadian Centre for Human Microbiome and Probiotics Research, London, ON, N6C 2R5, Canada.
² Department of Biology, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, N6A 5B7, Canada.
³ Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, N6A 5C1, Canada; Canadian Centre for Human Microbiome and Probiotics Research, London, ON, N6C 2R5, Canada; Department of Surgery, Schulich School of Medicine, London, ON, N6A 5C1, Canada. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 32680791
DOI: 10.1016/j.tim.2020.06.006

Abstract

Pesticide exposure, infectious disease, and nutritional stress contribute to honey bee mortality and a high rate of colony loss. This realization has fueled a decades-long investigation into the single and combined effects of each stressor and their overall bearing on insect physiology. However, one element largely missing from this research effort has been the evaluation of underlying microbial communities in resisting environmental stressors and their influence on host immunity and disease tolerance. In humans, multigenerational bombardment by antibiotics is linked with many contemporary diseases. Here, we draw a parallel conclusion for the case in honey bees and suggest that chronic exposure to antimicrobial xenobiotics can systematically deplete honey bees of their microbes and hamper cross-generational preservation of host-adapted symbionts that are crucial to health.

Keywords: detoxification; host–microbe interactions; insect immunity; microbial ecology; pesticides; probiotics.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Animals
Bees / immunology*
Bees / microbiology*
Disease Resistance / physiology
Ecology
Host Microbial Interactions / physiology*
Immunity*
Lactobacillus
Microbiota
Nutrients / deficiency
Pesticides / pharmacology
Probiotics
Stress, Physiological
Symbiosis

Substances

Pesticides