<i>Enterococcus faecium</i> Regulates Honey Bee Developmental Genes

Honey bees provide essential pollination services to the terrestrial ecosystem and produce important agricultural products. As a beneficial lactic acid bacterium, <i>Enterococcus faecium</i> is often supplied as a probiotic for honey bees and other animals. However, the underlying mechan...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Yating Du, Shiqi Luo, Xin Zhou
Format: article
Language:EN
Published: MDPI AG 2021
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Online Access:https://doaj.org/article/4a497fa4a3d74b1fb296698e6d55cb33
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Summary:Honey bees provide essential pollination services to the terrestrial ecosystem and produce important agricultural products. As a beneficial lactic acid bacterium, <i>Enterococcus faecium</i> is often supplied as a probiotic for honey bees and other animals. However, the underlying mechanisms of its actions and possible safety risks are not well understood. We present the first complete genome sequence of <i>E. faecium</i> isolated from the honey bee gut using nanopore sequencing, and investigate the effects and mechanisms of interactions between <i>E. faecium</i> and honey bees via transcriptome and miRNA analysis. <i>E. faecium</i> colonization increased honey bee gut weight. Transcriptome analysis showed that developmental genes were up-regulated. In accordance, the target genes of the down-regulated miRNAs were enriched in developmental pathways. We describe how <i>E. faecium</i> increases honey bee gut weight at the transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels, and add insights about how miRNAs mediate host and bacteria interactions.