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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Bee Research Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #416281
Research Project: Managing Honey Bees Against Disease and Colony Stress

Location: Bee Research Laboratory

Title: Bacterial diversity using metagenomics of 16s rDNA in water kefir, an innovative source of probiotics for bee nutrition

Author
item RODRIGUEZ, MARIA - Universidad Nacional Del Sur (UNS)
item FERNANDEZ, LETCIA A - Universidad Nacional Del Sur (UNS)
item DIAZ, MARINA L - Universidad Nacional Del Sur (UNS)
item GALLO, CRISTIAN A - Universidad Nacional Del Sur (UNS)
item Corona, Miguel
item Evans, Jay
item REYNALDI, FRANCISCO J - Universidad Nacional Del Sur (UNS)

Submitted to: Revista Argentina de Microbiología
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/5/2023
Publication Date: 1/24/2024
Citation: Rodriguez, M., Fernandez, L., Diaz, M., Gallo, C., Corona, M.V., Evans, J.D., Reynaldi, F. 2024. Bacterial diversity using metagenomics of 16s rDNA in water kefir, an innovative source of probiotics for bee nutrition. Revista Argentina de Microbiología. 56(2):191-197. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ram.2023.12.002.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ram.2023.12.002

Interpretive Summary: Recent studies have shown the importance of gut microbiota for honey bee health. Water kefir is a sparkling, slightly acidic fermented beverage made from sugar, water, and water kefir grains, which are a mixture of yeast and bacteria. In a previous study, we isolated potential bacterial probiotics from water kefir and showed that they inhibited important bee pathogens. In the present study, we use a high-throughput sequencing technique for a complete characterization of the bacterial composition of water kefir grains and beverage. Our results showed that species richness was higher in kefir beverage samples than in grain samples. We also found that the bacterial diversity in kefir grains was low, with only three genera mainly represented, all belonging to Lactobacillus bacteria. Since most of the beneficial bacteria living in the honey bee gut belong to the Lactobacillus genus, the species found in Kefir represent a promising source of probiotics for honey bees' artificial feeding.

Technical Abstract: In this study, a high-throughput sequencing technique was used to characterize the bacterial composition of the water kefir. We studied the bacterial diversity of both water kefir grains and beverages. DNA was extracted from three replicate samples of both grains and beverages using the Powerlyzer Microbial Kit. The hypervariable V1-V2 region of the bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA gene was amplified to prepare six DNA libraries. Between 1.4M and 2.4M base-pairs were sequenced for the library. In total, 28721971 raw reads were obtained from all the samples. Estimated species richness was higher in kefir beverage samples compared to grain samples. Moreover, a higher level of microbial alpha diversity was observed in the beverage samples. Particularly, the predominant bacteria in beverages were Anaerocolumna and Ralstonia, while in grains Liquorilactobacillus dominated, with lower levels of Leuconostoc and Oenococcus. Although the bacterial diversity in kefir grains was low because only three genera were the most represented, all of them are LAB bacteria with the potential to serve as probiotics in the artificial feeding of bees.