Bacteriophages and the Honeybee Gut Microbiome: Impacts on Immunity and Disease Resistance

The gut bacteria in honeybees are essential for their health, helping with digestion, nutrient absorption, immune function, and fighting infections. However, the role of bacteriophages (viruses that infect these bacteria), in this process is not well understood. The microBEEome project aims to address these knowledge gaps applying the following steps: 1) Use bacteria isolated from European honeybees to grow bacteriophages, 2) Introducing different combinations of bacteria and bacteriophages to germ-free worker bees to observe the natural development of the hoenybees as well as to study the stability of their gut microbiome, 3) Examining how different gut bacteria affect honeybee immune system development, and 4) Testing how different gut bacteria combinations help hoenybees resist diseases like Nosema and Deformed Wing Virus. The results could lead to the creation of probiotics or other treatments to improve honeybee health.