Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Diesel exhaust particles alter gut microbiome and gene expression in the bumblebee Bombus terrestris

Researchers exposed bumblebees to diesel exhaust particles and brake dust and found that oral exposure to diesel particles significantly altered their gut microbiome and gene expression. The diesel particles disrupted genes involved in immune function and chemical processing while shifting the balance of gut bacteria. The study suggests that air pollution from vehicle emissions may harm pollinator health through ingestion of contaminated particles during foraging.

2023 Ecology and Evolution 15 citations
Article Tier 2

Do diesel exhaust particles in pollen affect colony founding in the bumblebee B. terrestris?

Researchers investigated whether diesel exhaust particles (DEPs) incorporated into pollen fed to bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) queens and workers at the early colony-founding stage would affect colony development, measuring individual and colony-level outcomes after ten weeks to assess the impact of airborne particulate matter pollution on insect pollinator health.

2024
Article Tier 2

Microbiota and Its Importance in Honey Bees

This review examines the role of microbiota in honey bee health, finding that gut microbiome composition is critical for metabolism, immune function, and protection against pathogens, with environmental stressors including pollution threatening bee microbiome stability.

2021 Bee Studies- Apiculture Research Institute 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Acute and chronic effects of Titanium dioxide (TiO2) PM1 on honey bee gut microbiota under laboratory conditions

Researchers exposed honey bees to titanium dioxide PM1 particles under laboratory conditions for acute and chronic periods and found that even sublethal TiO2 exposure altered gut microbiota composition, reduced microbial diversity, and shifted metabolic activity, with potential implications for bee immune function and colony health.

2021 Scientific Reports 26 citations
Article Tier 2

How Environmental and Ecological Stressors Reprogram Honey Bee Chemistry Through the Microbiome–Metabolome Axis

Researchers reviewed how major environmental stressors — including pesticides, pathogens, nutritional imbalance, and contaminants — disrupt the honey bee gut microbiome-metabolome axis, finding recurring patterns of functional dysbiosis such as impaired energy metabolism and weakened immune regulation that can scale up to threaten colony resilience.

2026 Insects
Article Tier 2

Nano- and micro-polystyrene plastics disturb gut microbiota and intestinal immune system in honeybee.

Honeybees orally exposed to polystyrene micro- and nanoplastics showed disrupted gut microbiota and impaired intestinal immune function, with nanoplastics causing greater effects than microplastics. Since honeybees are critical pollinators for food production, microplastic contamination in their environment could affect both bee health and agricultural systems.

2022 The Science of the total environment
Article Tier 2

Gut microbiota protects honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) against polystyrene microplastics exposure risks

Researchers found that honey bees with intact gut microbiota were significantly more resilient to polystyrene microplastic exposure than bees with disrupted gut communities. The gut microbiota helped reduce oxidative stress and maintained immune function in bees exposed to microplastics. The study suggests that a healthy gut microbiome may serve as a natural defense mechanism against the harmful effects of microplastic ingestion in pollinators.

2020 Journal of Hazardous Materials 203 citations
Article Tier 2

Tetracycline exposure alters key gut microbiota in Africanized honey bees ( Apis mellifera scutellata x spp.)

Researchers found that exposure to tetracycline antibiotics significantly altered gut bacteria communities in Africanized honey bees, disrupting their microbiome health. Since bees can be exposed to antibiotics through agricultural practices, the findings raise concern about antibiotic impacts on pollinator health.

2021
Article Tier 2

Developing Strategies to Help Bee Colony Resilience in Changing Environments

This review identified strategies for improving bee colony resilience under multiple stressors including climate change, pathogen pressure, and pesticide exposure, with a focus on the links between nutrition, gut microbiota, and immune and stress response systems. The authors highlight dietary diversity and microbiome support as practical levers for maintaining colony health.

2022 Animals 17 citations
Article Tier 2

Association of specific gut microbiota with polyethylene microplastics caused gut dysbiosis and increased susceptibility to opportunistic pathogens in honeybees

Honeybees fed polyethylene microplastics (the type used in food packaging) showed disrupted gut bacteria and became more vulnerable to disease-causing pathogens. The larger 100-micrometer particles caused the most harm, physically damaging the gut lining and displacing beneficial bacteria. This research demonstrates how microplastic contamination in the environment can weaken important pollinator species by compromising their gut health and immune defenses.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 24 citations
Article Tier 2

Single and Synergistic Effects of Microplastics and Difenoconazole on Oxidative Stress, Transcriptome, and Microbiome Traits in Honey Bees

Researchers exposed honey bees to microplastics and the fungicide difenoconazole, both alone and together, and found that the combination caused worse oxidative stress and gut microbiome disruption than either pollutant alone. This is concerning because bees encounter both pollutants in agricultural environments, and the combined exposure may weaken their health more than expected.

2025 Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Influence of Age of Infection on the Gut Microbiota in Worker Honey Bees (Apis mellifera iberiensis) Experimentally Infected with Nosema ceranae

Researchers studied how infection with the gut parasite Nosema ceranae affects the microbiome of honey bees at different ages. The study found that infected bees, especially those infected shortly after emerging, showed significant shifts in their gut bacteria populations, suggesting that both age and infection timing play important roles in how bee gut health is disrupted.

2024 Microorganisms 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of different microplastic types and co-exposure on the survival of Apis mellifera ligustica (Spinola, 1806) and its associated microbial communities

Researchers fed honey bees three types of microplastics (polystyrene, polyethylene, and polymethyl methacrylate) individually and in combination, and found that all treatments significantly reduced bee survival compared to controls. The combination of all three microplastic types had the strongest negative effect, and the gut microbial community showed time- and treatment-specific shifts that may represent an initial compensatory response to maintain functional stability.

2026 Journal of Hazardous Materials
Article Tier 2

The Gut Microbiome Associated to Honeybees and Waste-reducing Insects

This review examined the gut microbiomes of honeybees and insects that consume organic waste including plastic-contaminated food, finding that gut bacteria play key roles in digestion and immunity. Some insect gut bacteria are being studied for their potential to biodegrade plastics, making this a relevant intersection of microbiology and plastic pollution research.

2017 Archivio Istituzionale della Ricerca (Universita Degli Studi Di Milano) 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Evaluation of the effect of spray paint microplastics on the internal organs of foraging worker bees of Bombus atratus (Hymenoptera: Apidae, Bombini)

Researchers evaluated the effects of spray paint microplastics on the internal organs of foraging worker bees of Bombus atratus, assessing histological and physiological changes in organ tissues following exposure to paint-derived microplastic particles.

2024 LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas)
Article Tier 2

Polystyrene microplastics reduce honeybee survival by disrupting gut microbiota and metabolism

Honeybees exposed to polystyrene microplastics at environmentally realistic concentrations showed reduced survival rates, damaged gut walls, and disrupted gut bacteria and metabolism. The microplastics accumulated in the bees' guts, causing oxidative stress and shifting the microbial community toward harmful species. Since honeybees are essential pollinators for many food crops, microplastic threats to bee health could have indirect consequences for agriculture and human food security.

2025 Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Kimalaste kokkupuude mikroplastiga metsades, põldudel ja linnades

Researchers used bumblebees as bioindicators to assess terrestrial microplastic contamination across urban, agricultural, and forest environments in Estonia, finding that bees in urban areas — especially near busy highways — carried significantly higher microplastic loads on their body surfaces, with weather conditions (rain vs. dry heat) also influencing particle accumulation.

2026 Eesti Maaülikool. EMU Dspace
Article Tier 2

Spray paint-derived microplastics and incorporated substances as ecotoxicological contaminants in the neotropical bumblebee Bombus atratus

Researchers exposed bumblebees to spray paint-derived microplastics, both fresh and UV-degraded, to assess their effects on internal organs. They found that UV-degraded paint microplastics caused significantly more cellular damage to the digestive tract and excretory organs than fresh particles. The study highlights that weathered microplastics from common consumer products can pose greater toxic risks to pollinators than pristine plastic particles.

2024 Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of traffic-derived airborne particulate matter on social Hymenoptera

This review examined how traffic-derived airborne particulate matter—including tire wear particles, brake dust, and microplastics—affects social Hymenoptera such as bees and ants, contributing to the broader picture of how urban pollution drives insect biodiversity decline.

2025
Clinical Trial Tier 1

Effects of microplastic, heat and ozone on Bombus terrestris mortality and relative fat body content

This study tested how microplastic exposure, heat stress, and ozone affect bumblebee survival and fat reserves. The results showed that combining multiple stressors, including microplastics, had worse effects on bees than any single stressor alone. Bumblebee health matters to humans because these pollinators are essential for producing many fruits and vegetables in our food supply.

2025 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Urban Air, Diesel Exhaust and Microplastic Particles Predispose to Asthma Origin Via Gut Microbiome Alteration

Researchers found that prenatal exposure of mice to urban air particles, diesel exhaust, or microplastic particles predisposed newborns to developing asthma through alterations in gut microbiome composition. By transplanting gut flora from exposed pups to unexposed recipients, they confirmed that the altered microbiome alone was sufficient to trigger asthma susceptibility. The study suggests that airborne particle exposure may contribute to asthma development via gut microbiome disruption rather than direct lung effects.

2025 American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Soil environment reshapes microbiota of laboratory-maintained Collembola during host development

Researchers found that exposing laboratory-raised springtails (tiny soil insects used in toxicity testing) to different natural soil environments significantly shifted the bacterial communities living in their guts, suggesting that the microbiome of these test organisms is more dynamic than previously assumed and could affect toxicology study results.

2022 Environmental Microbiome 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of oral exposure to brake wear particulate matter on the springtail Orthonychiurus folsomi

Researchers exposed the soil-dwelling springtail Orthonychiurus folsomi to brake wear particles under laboratory conditions, finding that chronic oral exposure caused sub-lethal effects at both low and high concentrations including histological damage to digestive and reproductive organs, with SEM-EDX confirming particle uptake into the gut.

2023 Environmental Pollution 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Gut microbiota analysis of the western honeybee ( Apis mellifera L.) infested with the mite Varroa destructor reveals altered bacterial and archaeal community

Researchers used 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing to characterize bacterial and archaeal gut communities in adult honeybees (Apis mellifera) and larvae from Varroa destructor-infested hives, comparing healthy and mite-affected groups. They found Bombella dominated larval microbiota while Gillamella, Lactobacillaceae, and Snodgrassella dominated adults, though healthy and Varroa-affected adult groups did not differ statistically, and larvae showed enrichment of genes involved in cofactor and vitamin biosynthesis.

2022