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Do honeybees shape the bacterial community composition in floral nectar?
Yana Aizenberg-Gershtein1, Ido Izhaki, Malka Halpern
1Department of Evolutionary and Environmental Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, Haifa, Israel.
Plos One
|July 12, 2013
Summary
Honeybees may influence nectar
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Ecology
- Botany
Background:
- Floral nectar is a primary reward for animal pollinators.
- Understanding the interactions between pollinators and nectar microbial communities is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of honeybees on nectar bacterial community composition.
- To determine if honeybees introduce or are exposed to specific bacteria within nectar.
Main Methods:
- Nectar and honeybees were sampled from Amygdalus communis and Citrus paradisi.
- Citrus paradisi flowers were bagged to exclude pollinators for comparison.
- Bacterial communities were analyzed using 454-pyrosequencing.
Main Results:
- Honeybee-associated bacterial communities showed no significant differences between plant species.
- Bacterial communities in nectar differed significantly between bagged (pollinator-excluded) and unbagged flowers.
- Honeybee-associated bacteria significantly differed from nectar bacteria in bagged flowers but not unbagged ones.
Conclusions:
- Honeybees may contribute to nectar bacterial diversity or be contaminated by nectar microbes.
- Findings suggest a dynamic interaction between honeybees and nectar microbial communities, potentially influenced by other floral visitors.
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