TY - JOUR
T1 - (More than) Hitchhikers through the network
T2 - The shared microbiome of bees and flowers
AU - Keller, Alexander
AU - McFrederick, Quinn S.
AU - Dharampal, Prarthana
AU - Steffan, Shawn
AU - Danforth, Bryan N.
AU - Leonhardt, Sara D.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Authors
PY - 2021/4
Y1 - 2021/4
N2 - Growing evidence reveals strong overlap between microbiomes of flowers and bees, suggesting that flowers are hubs of microbial transmission. Whether floral transmission is the main driver of bee microbiome assembly, and whether functional importance of florally sourced microbes shapes bee foraging decisions are intriguing questions that remain unanswered. We suggest that interaction network properties, such as nestedness, connectedness, and modularity, as well as specialization patterns can predict potential transmission routes of microbes between hosts. Yet microbial filtering by plant and bee hosts determines realized microbial niches. Functionally, shared floral microbes can provide benefits for bees by enhancing nutritional quality, detoxification, and disintegration of pollen. Flower microbes can also alter the attractiveness of floral resources. Together, these mechanisms may affect the structure of the flower-bee interaction network.
AB - Growing evidence reveals strong overlap between microbiomes of flowers and bees, suggesting that flowers are hubs of microbial transmission. Whether floral transmission is the main driver of bee microbiome assembly, and whether functional importance of florally sourced microbes shapes bee foraging decisions are intriguing questions that remain unanswered. We suggest that interaction network properties, such as nestedness, connectedness, and modularity, as well as specialization patterns can predict potential transmission routes of microbes between hosts. Yet microbial filtering by plant and bee hosts determines realized microbial niches. Functionally, shared floral microbes can provide benefits for bees by enhancing nutritional quality, detoxification, and disintegration of pollen. Flower microbes can also alter the attractiveness of floral resources. Together, these mechanisms may affect the structure of the flower-bee interaction network.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85094627382&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.cois.2020.09.007
DO - 10.1016/j.cois.2020.09.007
M3 - Review article
C2 - 32992041
AN - SCOPUS:85094627382
SN - 2214-5745
VL - 44
SP - 8
EP - 15
JO - Current Opinion in Insect Science
JF - Current Opinion in Insect Science
ER -