ArticlePloS one2023
The microbiome and gene expression of honey bee workers are affected by a diet containing pollen substitutes.
Article in PloS one, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers.
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Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed.
- Colibactin produced by a honeybee gut symbiont mediates pathogen defence.Nature microbiology · 2026Article
- From Pollen to Pathogen Defense: How Pollen Chemical Quality Impacts Deformed Wing Virus Infection and Survival in Honey Bees.Viruses · 2026Review
- Honey bee nutritranscriptomics reveals key insights towards precision nutrition.Journal of advanced research · 2026Article
- Environment and Pollen Diversity Differentially Affect the Gut Microbiomes of Introduced Honeybees and Bumblebees.Evolutionary applications · 2026Article
- DietaryInsects · 2026Article
- How Environmental and Ecological Stressors Reprogram Honey Bee Chemistry Through the Microbiome-Metabolome Axis.Insects · 2026Review
- Effects of Different Diets on Gut Microbiota ofInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Article
- A technical semi-field methodology to measure the effect of nutrition on honey bee brood rearing.The Journal of experimental biology · 2026Article
- Dietary modulation of gut microbiota and functional enzymes in savannah honey bees (Apis mellifera scutellata Lepeletier).Applied microbiology and biotechnology · 2025Article
- Effect of Diet Compositions on Colony Strength Parameters, and the Enzymatic Activity ofInsects · 2025Article
- Article
- A Review of Diet and Foraged Pollen Interactions with the Honeybee Gut Microbiome.Microbial ecology · 2025Review
- Core symbionts, age at inoculation and diet affect colonization of the bumblebee gut by a common bacterial pathogen.The Journal of animal ecology · 2025Article
- Honey bee immune response to trace concentrations of clothianidin goes beyond the macronutrients found in artificial diets.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Article
- Diet affects reproductive development and microbiota composition in honey bees.Animal microbiome · 2024Article
- Purified fibers in chemically defined synthetic diets destabilize the gut microbiome of an omnivorous insect model.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- Evaluation of Functional Properties of Some Lactic Acid Bacteria Strains for Probiotic Applications in Apiculture.Microorganisms · 2024Article
- The Bee Gut Microbiota: Bridging Infective Agents Potential in the One Health Context.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Pollen is the primary source of dietary protein for honey bees. It also includes complex polysaccharides in its outer coat, which are largely indigestible by bees but can be metabolized by bacterial species within the gut microbiota. During periods of reduced availability of floral pollen, supplemental protein sources are frequently provided to managed honey bee colonies. The crude proteins in these supplemental feeds are typically byproducts from food manufacturing processes and are rarely derived from pollen. Our experiments on the impact of different diets showed that a simplified pollen-free diet formulated to resemble the macronutrient profile of a monofloral pollen source resulted in larger microbial communities with reduced diversity, reduced evenness, and reduced levels of potentially beneficial hive-associated bacteria. Furthermore, the pollen-free diet sharply reduced the expression of genes central to honey bee development. In subsequent experiments, we showed that these shifts in gene expression may be linked to colonization by the gut microbiome. Lastly, we demonstrated that for bees inoculated with a defined gut microbiota, those raised on an artificial diet were less able to suppress infection from a bacterial pathogen than those that were fed natural pollen. Our findings demonstrate that a pollen-free diet significantly impacts the gut microbiota and gene expression of honey bees, indicating the importance of natural pollen as a primary protein source.
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