Simulated Climate Warming Influenced Colony Microclimatic Conditions and Gut Bacterial Abundance of Honeybee Subspecies Apis mellifera ligustica and A. mellifera sinisxinyuan

• Published in: Journal of Apicultural Science Vol. 66; no. 1; pp. 15 - 27
• Main Authors: Coulibaly, Krouholé A. S., Majeed, Muhammad Z., Sayed, Samy, Yeo, Kolo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Pulawy Sciendo 01.06.2022; De Gruyter Poland
• Subjects: 16s rrna gene copy numbers; Abundance; apiculture; Apis mellifera ligustica; apis mellifera sinisxinyuan; Bacteria; Bees; brood microclimate; Climate change; climate warming; Climatic conditions; Colonies; digestive system; Ecological effects; ectothermy; genes; Global warming; gut bacterial abundance; heat; Heating; honey bee colonies; honey bees; Insects; Intestinal microflora; intestinal microorganisms; Larvae; microbial communities; Microbiota; Microclimate; Microorganisms; nests; quantitative polymerase chain reaction; Relative humidity; RNA gene copy numbers; rRNA 16S; temperature
• ISSN: 2299-4831; 1643-4439; 2299-4831
• DOI: 10.2478/jas-2022-0002

Ectothermic organisms including insects are highly vulnerable to climate warming which not only influences their biology, ecology and physiology but also affects their symbiotic gut microbiota. This study determined the impact of ambient (control) and simulated warmer (heating) climatic conditions on the microclimate of brood nest and gut bacterial abundance of two subspecies i.e. and . For both subspecies, brood nest temperature and relative humidity under the heating treatment were significantly different (p≤0.001) than those under the control treatment. Quantitative PCR data revealed that the abundance of gut bacteria (16 RNA gene copy numbers) of and larvae was significantly higher (P≤0.05), 1.73 and 5.32 fold higher respectively, during the heating treatment than those in control conditions. Although gut bacterial abundance of (1.67 × 10 copies g fw) and (1.7 × 10 copies g fw) larvae was similar during the control treatment, larvae exhibited three times greater gut bacterial abundance than during the heating treatment. Similarly, adult bees harboured significantly greater bacterial abundance during the heating treatment than control. These findings elucidate that climate warming may significantly affect the honeybee colony microclimate and their gut bacterial abundance. However, further studies are needed to better understand how gut microbial community may influence the learning, physiological and behavioural mechanisms of the host bees in a climate warming scenario.