2026-10-14T04:18:50Z https://api.figshare.com/v2/oai

oai:figshare.com:article/33867394 2026-09-16T17:51:59Z category_8 category_13 category_21 category_873 category_39 category_734 portal_5 item_type_3 month_year_09_2026

<p>Source data underlying plots shown in the study.</p> Audam Chhun (18107254) Andrew Quinn (3482420) Alicia I. Pérez-Lorente (24998917) Théodora Steiner (24998920) Florian Zoppi (18107257) Thi Huong Giang Nguyen (21262149) Philipp Engel (230434) Yolanda Schaerli (2400250) Microbiology Genetics Biotechnology Chemical Sciences not elsewhere classified Ecology Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified opening new avenues native honeybee symbiont genetically tractable platform dissecting metabolic interactions dependent fluorescent response associated bacterial biofilms achieve stable multi resulting biosensor generates biosensor reported differential scale sugar gradients scale microenvironments within shaping host health div >< p directly validating species snodgrassella alvi </ vivo arabinose consumption scale resolution living biosensor alvi </ fine gradients experiences within gilliamella </ work establishes upon co technically challenging strength promoters situ biosensing nutrients across nutrient environment microbial community living host key role genetic toolkit findings demonstrate feeding bees enabling visualization diet composition derived arabinose chromosomal integration burden genes arabinose metabolism <div><p>The honeybee gut microbiota plays a key role in shaping host health and susceptibility to disease. Yet, the nutrient environment it experiences within the gut remains poorly characterized. In particular, little is known about the spatial distribution of nutrients across the microbial community, as resolving such fine gradients in vivo has been technically challenging. Here, we engineer the native honeybee symbiont <i>Snodgrassella alvi</i> as a living biosensor to quantify the bioavailability of the dietary sugar arabinose within the gut. By expanding the genetic toolkit for <i>S. alvi</i> through chromosomal integration of high-burden genes and a suite of low-strength promoters, we achieve stable multi-gene expression without compromising host colonization. The resulting biosensor generates a specific, dose-dependent fluorescent response to arabinose in the living host, enabling visualization of sugar gradients across gut-associated bacterial biofilms at micron-scale resolution. Upon co-colonization with distinct <i>Gilliamella</i> species that differ in arabinose metabolism, the biosensor reported differential in vivo arabinose consumption, directly validating species-specific metabolic specialization within the host. Feeding bees with pollen further uncovered pronounced radial heterogeneity in the distribution of pollen-derived arabinose. These findings demonstrate how diet composition and microbial specialization generate fine-scale microenvironments within the gut. More broadly, this work establishes <i>S. alvi</i> as a genetically tractable platform for in situ biosensing, opening new avenues for dissecting metabolic interactions and nutrient distribution within living hosts.</p></div> 2026-09-16T17:56:33Z Dataset Dataset 10.1371/journal.pbio.3003997.s001 https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/_p_Source_data_underlying_plots_shown_in_the_study_p_/33867394 CC BY 4.0