Bacterial microbiota in Nannotrigona testaceicornis (Lepeletier, 1836) colonies

Abstract

Stingless bees are found in tropical and subtropical regions, being social and with greater species diversity. For the colony to be healthy and have good productivity, bees make mutualistic interactions with specific microorganisms. This study was carried out to analyze the bacterial community present in colonies of Nannotrigona testaceicornis. The experiments were performed by methods dependent on cultivation, quantification, morphotintorial analyzes and chemical tests. The bacteria isolated from the adult stingless bees, pupae, larvae, propolis, stored pollen and honey samples from the six colonies, were divided into five groups according to their main characteristics: Coryneform, Lactobacillaceae, Sporulated Bacilli, Micrococcacea and Streptococcacea. The highest bacterial load was found in propolis followed by the adult stingless bee; in addition, common bacterial populations were found among the samples. This work, the microbiota associated with stingless bee colony N. testaceicornis, contributes to a better understanding of the symbiotic relationships between social bees and microorganisms.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

Keywords:

• Bacillus
• bacteria
• probiotic
• stingless bees
• symbiosis

Acknowledgements

We thank the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) for financing our project (Process No. 311072/2019-4).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.