Landscape Effects on the Gut Microbiome of Apis mellifera Bees: A Comparative Study between Atlantic Forest and Caatinga Biomes

The composition of the intestinal microbiota of animals can be influenced by a variety of intrinsic and extrinsic factors to the host, such as diet, physiological state, and genetics. This study aimed to characterize the differences in the intestinal microbiota of Apis mellifera bees from two distinct biomes, the Atlantic Forest and the Caatinga, utilizing metataxonomy. High-performance sequencing of the V3-V4 region of the 16S rRNA microbial gene was conducted, followed by comprehensive data processing. A higher differential abundance of the genus Apibacter was observed in bees from the Atlantic Forest biome. Previous studies have indicated that bees exposed to different types of landscapes exhibit significant differences in their gut microbial communities. However, it is noteworthy that the variance attributable to landscape type, while significant, is relatively low. This study contributes to the understanding of how environmental factors can influence the microbiota of bees in different biomes.