ArticlePloS one2017
New evidence showing that the destruction of gut bacteria by antibiotic treatment could increase the honey bee's vulnerability to Nosema infection.
Article in PloS one, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 64 papers.
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64 citing papers in PubMed, 135 citations in OpenAlex.
- Antimicrobial Resistance Genes (ARGs) Monitoring and Gut Microbiota Profiling in Honey Bees from an Intensive Livestock Farming Area in Northwestern Italy.Microorganisms · 2026Article
- Divergent microbiome signatures between managed and wild honey bee (Microbiology spectrum · 2026Article
- Host-associated beneficial gut microbiota boosts induced immunity and limits immune deployment costs in bumblebees.The Journal of animal ecology · 2026Article
- Host-Driven Functional Divergence in Gut Microbiota of Honeybees Apis cerana and Apis mellifera: Implications for Pollination, Nutrition, and Sustainable Apiculture.Current microbiology · 2025Article
- Host Specificity ofInsects · 2025Article
- Article
- Liposome-based RNAi delivery in honeybee for inhibiting parasiteSynthetic and systems biotechnology · 2024Article
- Exploring the interactions between Nosema ceranae infection and the honey bee gut microbiome.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Quantitative microbiome profiling of honey bee (Apis mellifera) guts is predictive of winter colony loss in northern Virginia (USA).Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Prospects of probiotics in beekeeping: a review for sustainable approach to boost honeybee health.Archives of microbiology · 2024Review
- Influence of Age of Infection on the Gut Microbiota in Worker Honey Bees (Microorganisms · 2024Article
- Fall Treatment with Fumagillin Contributes to an Overwinter Shift inLife (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- The honeybee microbiota and its impact on health and disease.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2024Review
- Beneficial Bacteria and Plant Extracts Promote Honey Bee Health and Reduce Nosema ceranae Infection.Probiotics and antimicrobial proteins · 2024Article
- Article
- Identification of peptides from honeybee gut symbionts as potential antimicrobial agents against Melissococcus plutonius.Nature communications · 2023Article
- Engineered gut symbiont inhibits microsporidian parasite and improves honey bee survival.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2023Article
- Caffeine Consumption Helps Honey Bees Fight a Bacterial Pathogen.Microbiology spectrum · 2023Article
- Engineered symbiotic bacteria interfering Nosema redox system inhibit microsporidia parasitism in honeybees.Nature communications · 2023Article
- The effects of glyphosate, pure or in herbicide formulation, on bumble bees and their gut microbial communities.The Science of the total environment · 2023Article
4 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
It has become increasingly clear that gut bacteria play vital roles in the development, nutrition, immunity, and overall fitness of their eukaryotic hosts. We conducted the present study to investigate the effects of gut microbiota disruption on the honey bee's immune responses to infection by the microsporidian parasite Nosema ceranae. Newly emerged adult workers were collected and divided into four groups: Group I-no treatment; Group II-inoculated with N. ceranae, Group III-antibiotic treatment, and Group IV-antibiotic treatment after inoculation with N. ceranae. Our study showed that Nosema infection did not cause obvious disruption of the gut bacterial community as there was no significant difference in the density and composition of gut bacteria between Group I and Group II. However, the elimination of gut bacteria by antibiotic (Groups III and IV) negatively impacted the functioning of the honey bees' immune system as evidenced by the expression of genes encoding antimicrobial peptides abaecin, defensin1, and hymenoptaecin that showed the following ranking: Group I > Group II > Group III > Group IV. In addition, significantly higher Nosema levels were observed in Group IV than in Group II, suggesting that eliminating gut bacteria weakened immune function and made honey bees more susceptible to Nosema infection. Based on Group IV having displayed the highest mortality rate among the four experimental groups indicates that antibiotic treatment in combination with stress, associated with Nosema infection, significantly and negatively impacts honey bee survival. The present study adds new evidence that antibiotic treatment not only leads to the complex problem of antibiotic resistance but can impact honey bee disease resistance. Further studies aimed at specific components of the gut bacterial community will provide new insights into the roles of specific bacteria and possibly new approaches to improving bee health.
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