Influence of elevation in structuring the gut bacterial communities of Apis cerana Fab

Apis cerana F., a native honey bee of India, is an important crop pollinator and also managed for honey production and other bee products. In present study, 13 population samples were collected from different agro climatic regions of South India, with varied elevation ranging from 1 to 2268 m Mean Sea Level (MSL). The research work was carried out at the Division of Entomology and Nematology, ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR), Bengaluru during 2014-16 to understand the influence of habitat elevation on the gut colonizing bacterial communities of A. cerana. By culturing and 16S rDNA sequencing the major bacterial isolates of the gut were identified. Forty six isolates of culturable bacteria belonging to phyla Proteobacteria and Firmicutes were identified. Bacillus sp. (Firmicutes) was predominant among higher elevation populations, while Proteobacteria (Serratia sp., Klebsiella sp. and Enterobacter sp.) was dominant bacterial phylotype in plain and coastal populations. From the results it was evident that variability existed in gut microbial communities among populations inhabiting different elevations. They give an insight into the gut associated microbiota niche in relation to elevation gradient, leading to honey bee health and their ecological adaptations, which contributes to conservation strategy.