Fig. 5: Gut colonization and depletion of host-derived metabolites is conserved across divergent Snodgrassella strains.

a, Colonization levels of divergent Snodgrassella strains in monocolonized bees fed sugar water. Pink bars denote the median of c.f.u. per gut for each group. The LOD < 70 colonies per gut is shown with a horizontal dashed line. The top bar indicates Snodgrassella strains native to A. mellifera versus Bombus sp. Colonization success (%) is shown for each strain, defined as guts with detectable c.f.u. counts. The experiment was repeated with bees from two hives. b, Volcano plot of gut metabolites showing the similarities in metabolite changes from MF versus colonized bees across strains. Each metabolite is plotted five times (once per Snodgrassella strain) and colour coded by the number of strains in which it is significantly differentially abundant versus MF bees. Only 3Hmg and anthranilate were significantly depleted or enriched by all five strains, while four of the strains depleted hypoxanthine, malate and urea and three of the five depleted GABA, fumarate, glycerate, isocitrate and succinate. Adjusted significance values were calculated using a two-sided Wilcoxon rank sum test, with BH correction (MF, n = 12; wkB2, n = 12; ESL0304, n = 12; ESL0323, n = 13; ESL0251, n = 17; ESL0897, n = 12).