![]() ![]() The honeybee ( Apis mellifera) is an important agricultural pollinator for wild plants and crops, and studies have focused on bee health to prevent colony losses. Thus, models exhibiting high sociality and a specialized gut community would be ideal to fully understand the relationship between the gut microbiota and host social behaviors. It is challenging to elucidate the contribution of individual gut members in mammals, which is partly due to the complex and unpredictable compositions of the gut community and the difficulty of maintaining and manipulating gnotobiotic animals 4. Although the functional connection between the microbiota and neurophysiology has been widely recognized, most recent studies have focused on mammalian and nonsocial-insect models. Specifically, it has been documented that the gut microbiota modulates tryptophan (Trp) metabolism and that the produced serotonin, kynurenine (Kyn), and indolic compounds profoundly affect gut-brain interactions 3. For example, various short-chain fatty acids derived from microbial fermentation were suggested to regulate the rate-limiting enzymes involved in neurotransmitter biosynthesis 2. Although it is unclear whether the neurotransmitters produced by certain gut bacteria (e.g., GABA, serotonin, dopamine) can reach the brain, considering the presence of the blood–brain barrier, the gut microbiota can influence brain physiology indirectly. Microbes can impact the host brain through various pathways, such as immune modulation, and via microbial metabolites implicated in regulating the gut-brain axis 1. Recent studies have shown the effects of symbiotic microbes on the central nervous system (CNS) and behavioral processes in humans and several animal systems. The gut microbiota plays a significant role in modulating host development and physiology, including metabolism and immune functions. Our findings highlight the contributions of specific gut members to honeybee neurological processes, thus providing a promising model to understand host-microbe interactions. Our results indicate that host-specific Lactobacillus strains promote memory behavior by transforming tryptophan to indole derivatives that activate the host aryl hydrocarbon receptor. Subsequent metabolomic analyses of both hemolymph and gut samples show that the microbiota mainly regulates tryptophan metabolism. Brain transcriptomic profiling reveals distinct brain gene expression patterns between microbiota-free and conventional bees. Using laboratory-generated gnotobiotic bees, we show that a normal gut microbiota is required for olfactory learning and memory abilities. Here, we find that antibiotic exposure disturbs the gut community and influences honeybee phenotypes under field conditions. However, it remains unclear how specific gut members affect honeybee behaviors. ![]() Their gut microbiota comprises a limited number of host-restricted bacterial phylotypes that are important for honeybee health. Honeybees are highly social insects with a rich behavioral repertoire and are a versatile model for neurobiological research. ![]()
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