ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2011
Socially transmitted gut microbiota protect bumble bees against an intestinal parasite.
Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 389 papers.
What it found
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Who cites it
389 citing papers in PubMed, 864 citations in OpenAlex.
- Animal gut microbes and microbiomes in the 21st century and beyond.Science China. Life sciences · 2026Review
- Cryptic Interactions in a Marine Microcosm: Sponges Shape the Microbiome of a Resident Goby.Molecular ecology · 2026Article
- How do anthropogenic changes affect wildlife microbiomes?PLoS biology · 2026Article
- Behavioral and Microbial Profiling of the Bethylid WaspBiological control : theory and applications in pest management · 2026Article
- Biogeographic and Habitat-Associated Variation in the Gut Microbiota of the Stingless BeeInsects · 2026Article
- Tracking Microbiome Composition and Stability Across Indian Social Honeybees Foraging in a Homogeneous Mustard Crop Landscape.Microbial ecology · 2026Article
- The symbiotic bacteriaMicrobiology spectrum · 2026Article
- Genomic Analysis of Gut Bacteria in Tecia Solanivora: Insights into Host Functions and Their Potential in Biocontrol.Current microbiology · 2026Article
- Environmental microbial communities and host selection shape larval microbiomes.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Conserved gut microbiomes with cross-species spillover between sympatric Neotropical stingless bees and honey bees.Applied and environmental microbiology · 2026Article
- Characterization of Gut Bacteria inInsects · 2026Article
- The gut microbiome shapes social behaviour across animal species.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2026Review
- The Importance of Sociality and Diet in Explaining Variation in the Bonobo Gut Microbiota.American journal of primatology · 2026Article
- Social microbiome transmission predicts microbial specialization and host lifespan in a wild primate.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Probiotic Modulation of Gut Microbiota Enhances Immunity and Nutrition in SIT Ceratitis Capitata Sterile Males.Microbial ecology · 2026Article
- Diversity of culturable gut bacteria associated with brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens (Stål) and their role in imidacloprid degradation.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Types and characteristics of shared microbiota within families of ethnic minorities in Inner Mongolia.Microbiology spectrum · 2026Article
- Integrating the Microbiome Into Infection Ecology and Evolution in Wild Animals.Molecular ecology · 2026Review
- A microbial view on secondary contact between two Alpine butterflies.BMC ecology and evolution · 2026Article
- Host-associated beneficial gut microbiota boosts induced immunity and limits immune deployment costs in bumblebees.The Journal of animal ecology · 2026Article
329 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Populations of important pollinators, such as bumble bees and honey bees, are declining at alarming rates worldwide. Parasites are likely contributing to this phenomenon. A distinct resident community of bacteria has recently been identified in bumble bees and honey bees that is not shared with related solitary bee species. We now show that the presence of these microbiota protects bee hosts against a widespread and highly virulent natural parasite (Crithidia bombi) in an experimental setting. We add further support to this antagonistic relationship from patterns found in field data. For the successful establishment of these microbiota and a protective effect, exposure to feces from nest mates was needed after pupal eclosion. Transmission of beneficial gut bacteria could therefore represent an important benefit of sociality. Our results stress the importance of considering the host microbiota as an "extended immune phenotype" in addition to the host immune system itself and provide a unique perspective to understanding bees in health and disease.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.