Friend or foe? Concentration of a commensal microbe induces distinct responses in developing honey bees exposed to field-realistic pesticide concentrations
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Commensal microbes play important roles in modulating host health through varied mechanisms. Enterococcus faecalis, a Gram-positive commensal bacterium found across a wide range of hosts, has the potential to benefit its host through probiotic, antimicrobial and detoxification properties. However, it can also cause adverse effects, disrupting the host's healthy microbial communities and responses to co-stressors. Its context-dependent impact on the health of the agriculturally important pollinator - Apis mellifera - has been sparsely explored. Here, we examined the effects on honey bee brood survivorship and development when exposed at different concentrations and when co-exposed with chemical stressors (acetamiprid, thymol, glyphosate, and a mixture of the three). We found high doses of E. faecalis significantly reduced larval survivorship and size of brood at multiple developmental stages. Conversely, we found that low doses of E. faecalis increased larval size when individuals were co-exposed to the pesticide mixture. We also found that glyphosate alone and the pesticide mixture reduced the mass of brown-eyed pupae. These results are the first to show the dual role of E. faecalis in honey bee health is dependent on the concentration of the microbe and the co-stressors that brood are exposed to.
Date Issued
2025-09-01
Date Acceptance
2025-07-28
Citation
FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 2025, 101 (9)
ISSN
0168-6496
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Journal / Book Title
FEMS Microbiology Ecology
Volume
101
Issue
9
Copyright Statement
© TheAuthor(s) 2025. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of FEMS. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,provided the original work is properly cited
License URL
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/40728926
PII: 8217243
Subjects
APIS-MELLIFERA
BACTERIA
commensalism
DIVERSITY
Enterococcus
ENTEROCOCCUS-FAECALIS
honey bee
IDENTIFICATION
IMMUNITY
INHIBITION
larvae
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Microbiology
PAENIBACILLUS-LARVAE
PATHOGEN
pesticides
RESIDUES
Science & Technology
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
England
Article Number
fiaf08
Date Publish Online
2025-07-29