RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Foraging on host synthesized metabolites enables the bacterial symbiont Snodgrassella alvi to colonize the honey bee gut JF bioRxiv FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory SP 2023.01.23.524906 DO 10.1101/2023.01.23.524906 A1 Andrew Quinn A1 Yassine El Chazli A1 Stéphane Escrig A1 Jean Daraspe A1 Nicolas Neuschwander A1 Aoife McNally A1 Christel Genoud A1 Anders Meibom A1 Philipp Engel YR 2023 UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2023/01/23/2023.01.23.524906.abstract AB Nutrients from the host diet and microbial cross-feeding allow diverse bacteria to colonize the animal gut. Less is known about the role of host-derived nutrients in enabling gut bacterial colonization. We examined metabolic interactions within the evolutionary ancient symbiosis between the honey bee (Apis mellifera) and the core gut microbiota member Snodgrassella alvi. This Betaproteobacteria is incapable of metabolizing saccharides, yet colonizes the honey bee gut in the presence of only a sugar diet. Using comparative metabolomics, 13C tracers, and Nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometry (NanoSIMS), we show in vivo that S. alvi grows on host-derived organic acids, including citrate, glycerate and 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutarate which are actively secreted by the host into the gut lumen. S. alvi additionally modulates tryptophan metabolism in the gut, primarily by converting kynurenine to anthranilate. These results suggest that Snodgrassella is adapted to a specific metabolic niche in the gut that depends on host-derived nutritional resources.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.