Comparative analysis of the gut microbiota ofApis ceranain Yunnan using high-throughput sequencing

Gut microbes play an important role in host disease and health. The Asian honey beeApis ceranais an important pollinator of agricultural crops in China. However, there are still few studies on the structure and composition of the microbiota in the intestine ofA. cerana, especiallyA. ceranain Yunnan. To understand the species and composition of the microbiota in the intestine ofA. ceranain Yunnan, we used high-throughput sequencing technology to carry out 16S rRNA sequencing on 50 samples from Kunming, Xishuangbanna and Mengzi. The results show that both from the phylum level and the genus level, the structure and abundance of the microbiota in the gut ofA. ceranafrom the three regions tended to be the same. At the phylum level, the abundance of Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, Acidobacteria and other species was high inA. ceranafrom different areas. At the genus level, the abundance ofLactobacillus,Gilliamella,Snodgrassella,Apibacter,Candidatus Schmidhempeliaand other species was high inA. ceranafrom different areas. Due to its unique geographical environment and climatic conditions, at the genus level, the diversity of bacterial communities in Xishuangbanna was significantly lower than that in the other two regions, which was about 100 genera less. In conclusion, our results reveal the composition and structure of the intestinal microbiota of bees in Yunnan and deepen our understanding of the intestinal microbiota of bees.