Exploring the Interaction of Probiotic Bacteria and Honey Bee Gut Metabolome

Jef Engelen

Diplomová práce

Abstract:

This thesis aimed to investigate whether supplementation with specific bacteria would alter the metabolic composition of honey bee (Apis mellifera) gut and bodily tissue and whether this alteration would be influenced by the presence of a native gut microbiome obtained from older siblings. To achieve this, newly emerged bees were either supplemented with a mixture of bacterial strains (Lactobacillus helsinborgensis, Bifidobacterium asteroides, Bombilactobacillus mellis and Lactobacillus apis) or kept in sterile conditions, and were housed either with or without the presence of older bees. This results in four treatment combinations: Control ©, Probiotics (P), Control with older bees (COB) and Probiotics with older bees (POB). Tissues of bees from each group were analysed by means of 1H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), generating metabolite spectra which allowed for identification of individual metabolites and comparison of their relative abundances. The results were interpreted by using hierarchical clustering, Principal Component Analysis (PCA), and Orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA). These methods were utilized to find differences between groups and to identify the most important compounds contributing to these differences. Hierarchical clustering indicated an effect of the bacterial supplement, as treatments that received said supplement tended to cluster more closely with each other than with the control groups. PCA, however, shows that differences are rather subtle and inadequate to clearly distinguish control and supplemented groups. In terms of specific compounds, the bacteria in the supplement mainly seem to influence the organic acid composition of the gut and tend to increase the acetate content. A phenomenon possibly caused by increased representation of Bifidobacterium spp. in the supplemented groups. In the body, supplementation with the above-mentioned bacteria seems to slightly affect neuro-active compounds such as inosine and adenosine monophosphate (AMP).

Keywords

Honey bee, Microbiota, Probiotics, Metabolomics, Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance

Jazyk práce: angličtina

Datum vytvoření / odevzdání či podání práce: 22. 4. 2024

Obhajoba závěrečné práce

• Obhajoba proběhla 23. 5. 2024
• Vedoucí: doc. Ing. Jaroslav Havlík, Ph.D.
• Oponent: Pavel Hyršl, externi

Česká zemědělská univerzita v Praze

Fakulta agrobiologie, potravinových a přírodních zdrojů

Magisterský studijní program:
Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security