Uso da técnica metabarcode para identificação de fungos e bactérias intestinais de Melipona scutellaris (Apidae: Meliponini)

Abstract

Member of the Meliponini tribe, Melipona scutellaris is originally restricted to the northeastern region of Brazil, but nowadays it is possible to find this species being raised in Brazil’s southeast and south region, mainly due to its productivity, quality of honey and the translocation made by breeders. It is one of the most raised bees in the northeast region by small family farms that produce and sell honey, manily saburá (pollen) and geopropolis. Also, it is an important pollinator for native forest and several commercial crops. The composition of the microbiota of Meliponini, is poorly studied and still do not allow us to generalize patterns of its importance and influence on these pollinators. Bacteria and fungi have proven to play important roles in bee digestive system. These microorganisms act in the nutrition process, help in the immune system by fighting pathogens, among other functions that benefit the bees. The bacterial and fungal communities are also affected by stresses from diseases and insecticide poisoning, indicating disturbances in the colony. Therefore, the characterization of bacteria and fungi present in the gut of M. scutellaris opens a range of information about the health, nutrition, and adaptation of these bees, and can be used as a model for other species of the tribe. One of the best performing tools currently for microbial community characterization is the metabarcoding tool. Through the sequencing of 16S and ITS gene regions it is possible to identify bacteria and fungi, respectively, in large scale and to know the identity of microorganisms present in the gut of bees. In this work we aimed to describe the microbiota of this important species and discuss the impacts on colonial health and maintenance. The digestive system of M. scutellarias was dominated mainly by the bacterial genera Lactobacillilus, Bifidobacterium, Floricoccus, Bombella, Pectinatus, Fruticobacillus and Snodgrassella and fungal Starmerella, Candida, Zygosaccharomyces, Malassezia, Lachancea, Aspergillus, Sterigmatomyces and Meyerozyma. We present important data regarding the differentiation in the microbial composition of bees from the three ecoregions collected.