Host Species and Geography Differentiate Honeybee Gut Bacterial Communities by Changing the Relative Contribution of Community Assembly Processes

Abstract

Honeybees provide crucial pollination services and valuable apiarian products. The symbiotic intestinal communities facilitate honeybee health and fitness by promoting nutrient assimilation, detoxifying toxins, and resisting pathogens. Thus, understanding the processes that govern honeybee gut bacterial communities is imperative for better managing gut microbiota to improve honeybee health. However, little is known about the processes driving the assembly and shift of honeybee gut bacterial communities. This study quantitatively deciphers the relative importance of selection, dispersal, and undominated processes in governing the assembly of honeybee gut bacterial communities and explores how their relative importance varies across biological and spatial scales. Our study provides new insights into the mechanisms underlying the maintenance and shift of honeybee gut microbiota.