PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Tobin J. Hammer
AU  - Eli Le
AU  - Nancy A. Moran
TI  - Thermal niches of specialized gut symbionts: the case of social bees
AID  - 10.1101/2020.06.16.155309
DP  - 2020 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2020.06.16.155309
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/06/17/2020.06.16.155309.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/06/17/2020.06.16.155309.full
AB  - Responses to climate change are particularly complicated in species that engage in symbioses, as the niche of one partner may be modified by that of the other. We explored thermal traits in gut symbionts of honeybees and bumblebees, which are vulnerable to rising temperatures. In vitro assays of symbiont strains isolated from 16 host species revealed variation in thermal niches. Strains from bumblebees tended to be less heat-tolerant than those from honeybees, possibly due to bumblebees maintaining cooler nests or inhabiting cooler climates. Overall however, bee symbionts grew at temperatures up to 44 °C and withstood temperatures up to 52 °C, at or above the upper thermal limits of their hosts. While heat-tolerant, most strains of the symbiont Snodgrassella grew relatively slowly below 35 °C, perhaps because of adaptation to the elevated body temperatures that bees maintain through thermoregulation. In a gnotobiotic bumblebee experiment, Snodgrassella was unable to consistently colonize bees reared below 35 °C under conditions that limit thermoregulation. Thus, host thermoregulatory behavior appears important in creating a warm microenvironment for symbiont establishment. Bee-microbiome-temperature interactions could affect host health and pollination services, and inform research on the thermal biology of other specialized gut symbionts, such as those of humans.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.