Host ecology and phylogeny shape the temporal dynamics of social bee viromes

Doublet, Vincent ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6313-1222; Doyle, Toby D. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3957-3765; Carvell, Claire ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6784-3593; Brown, Mark J.F. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8887-3628; Wilfert, Lena ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6075-458X. 2025 Host ecology and phylogeny shape the temporal dynamics of social bee viromes. Nature Communications, 16, 2207. 11, pp. 10.1038/s41467-025-57314-7

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-57314-7

Abstract/Summary

The composition of viral communities (i.e. viromes) can be dynamic and complex. Co-evolution may lead to virome host-specificity. However, eco-evolutionary factors may influence virome dynamics in wild host communities, potentially leading to disease emergence. Social bees are relevant models to address the drivers of virome composition: these important pollinators form multi-species assemblages, with high niche overlap and strong seasonality in their biotic interactions. We applied a microbial community approach to disentangle the role of host phylogeny and host ecology in shaping bee viromes, combining plant-pollinator networks with meta-transcriptomics, and small interfering RNAs as proxies for viral replication in pollinators and pollen. We identified over a hundred insect and plant viral sequences from ca. 4500 insect pollinator samples across three time points in one year. While host genetic distance drives the distribution of bee viruses, we find that plant-pollinator interactions and phenology drive plant virus communities collected by bees. This reveals the opportunities for virus spread in the bee assemblage. However, we show that transmission to multiple hosts is only realized for a fraction of insect viruses, with even fewer found to be actively replicating in multiple species, including the particularly virulent multi-host acute bee paralysis virus.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	10.1038/s41467-025-57314-7
UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:	Biodiversity and Land Use (2025-)
ISSN:	2041-1723
Additional Information. Not used in RCUK Gateway to Research.:	Open Access paper - full text available via Official URL link.
Additional Keywords:	community ecology, metagenomics
NORA Subject Terms:	Ecology and Environment
Related URLs:	Dataset Dataset Dataset
Date made live:	10 Mar 2025 15:52 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/539062

Item Type:

Publication - Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI):

10.1038/s41467-025-57314-7

UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:

Biodiversity and Land Use (2025-)

ISSN:

2041-1723

Additional Information. Not used in RCUK Gateway to Research.:

Open Access paper - full text available via Official URL link.

Additional Keywords:

community ecology, metagenomics