Surviving in the absence of flowers: do nectar yeasts rely on overwintering bumblebee queens to complete their annual life cycle?
| Autor: | Hans Jacquemyn, Alfredo Benavente, Gaby van Kemenade, Annette Van Oystaeyen, Felix L. Wäckers, Jacek Bartlewicz, María I. Pozo |
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| Rok vydání: | 2018 |
| Předmět: |
0301 basic medicine
Hibernation Plant Nectar Zoology Flowers Metschnikowia Biology Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology Microbiology Rhodotorula mucilaginosa 03 medical and health sciences Pollinator Animals Nectar Pollination Ecosystem Overwintering Bumblebee Candida Life Cycle Stages Ecology food and beverages Bees Plants biology.organism_classification Yeast Gastrointestinal Tract 030104 developmental biology Female Seasons Phyllosphere |
| Zdroj: | FEMS Microbiology Ecology. |
| ISSN: | 1574-6941 |
| DOI: | 10.1093/femsec/fiy196 |
| Popis: | Floral nectar represents an ephemeral habitat that is restricted in time and space to zoophilous flowering vegetation. To survive in these habitats, nectar-inhabiting microorganisms rely on animal vectors to disperse from one flower to the next. However, it remains unclear how nectar yeasts persist when flowers and nectar cease to be present. Here, we tested the hypothesis that hibernating bumblebee queens function as a reservoir for nectar yeasts in the absence of plants or pollinators during winter. Our results show that the nectar yeast, Metschnikowia reukaufii, was present in the gastrointestinal tract of wild bumblebee queens that emerged from hibernation and that it could persist inside the gut of hibernating queens under experimental conditions. However, no evidence for such persistence was found in the case of the second most frequent nectar yeast, M. gruessii. Furthermore, a phylloplane yeast that occasionally inhabits nectar, Rhodotorula mucilaginosa, was able to colonize the gut under experimental conditions. Two bumblebee-associated yeasts, Candida bombi and C. bombiphila, were successfully passed down generations after administration in commercial lab-reared bumblebees. Overall, these results demonstrate that bumblebees could act as a reservoir for nectar yeasts during winter when floral nectar is absent. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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