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The gut microbiota affects the social network of honeybees

View ORCID ProfileJoanito Liberti, View ORCID ProfileTomas Kay, View ORCID ProfileAndrew Quinn, View ORCID ProfileLucie Kesner, View ORCID ProfileErik T. Frank, View ORCID ProfileAmélie Cabirol, View ORCID ProfileThomas O. Richardson, View ORCID ProfilePhilipp Engel, View ORCID ProfileLaurent Keller
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.12.31.474534
Joanito Liberti
1Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Switzerland
2Department of Fundamental Microbiology, University of Lausanne, Switzerland
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  • ORCID record for Joanito Liberti
  • For correspondence: joanito.liberti@unil.ch laurent.keller@unil.ch philipp.engel@unil.ch
Tomas Kay
1Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Switzerland
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Andrew Quinn
2Department of Fundamental Microbiology, University of Lausanne, Switzerland
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Lucie Kesner
2Department of Fundamental Microbiology, University of Lausanne, Switzerland
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  • ORCID record for Lucie Kesner
Erik T. Frank
1Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Switzerland
3Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, University of Würzburg, Germany
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Amélie Cabirol
2Department of Fundamental Microbiology, University of Lausanne, Switzerland
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Thomas O. Richardson
1Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Switzerland
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Philipp Engel
2Department of Fundamental Microbiology, University of Lausanne, Switzerland
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  • For correspondence: joanito.liberti@unil.ch laurent.keller@unil.ch philipp.engel@unil.ch
Laurent Keller
1Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Switzerland
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  • For correspondence: joanito.liberti@unil.ch laurent.keller@unil.ch philipp.engel@unil.ch
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Abstract

The gut microbiota influences animal neurophysiology and behavior but has not previously been documented to affect emergent group-level behaviors. Here we combine gut microbiota manipulation with automated behavioral tracking of honeybee sub-colonies to show that the microbiota increases the rate and specialization of social interactions. Microbiota colonization was associated with higher abundances of one third of metabolites detected in the brain, including several amino acids, and a subset of these metabolites were significant predictors of social interactions. Colonization also affected brain transcriptional processes related to amino acid metabolism and epigenetic modification in a brain region involved in sensory perception. These results demonstrate that the gut microbiota modulates the emergent colony social network of honeybees, likely via changes in chromatin accessibility and amino acid biosynthesis.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Footnotes

  • ↵§ Shared first authorship

  • https://github.com/JoanitoLiberti/The-gut-microbiota-affects-the-social-network-of-honeybees

  • https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5797980

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission.
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Posted January 01, 2022.
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The gut microbiota affects the social network of honeybees
Joanito Liberti, Tomas Kay, Andrew Quinn, Lucie Kesner, Erik T. Frank, Amélie Cabirol, Thomas O. Richardson, Philipp Engel, Laurent Keller
bioRxiv 2021.12.31.474534; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.12.31.474534
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The gut microbiota affects the social network of honeybees
Joanito Liberti, Tomas Kay, Andrew Quinn, Lucie Kesner, Erik T. Frank, Amélie Cabirol, Thomas O. Richardson, Philipp Engel, Laurent Keller
bioRxiv 2021.12.31.474534; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.12.31.474534

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