{
  "id": 8733350,
  "title": "Bacterial secreted products selectively inhibit non-symbiotic fungi in bees",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/20/bacterial-secreted-products-selectively-inhibit-non-symbiotic-fungi",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-09-20T00:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "bioRxiv",
    "slug": "biorxiv",
    "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.16.752052v1?rss=1"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Microbial interactions significantly influence the composition of microbiomes, including those of crucial pollinators like stingless bees. In the larval diet of the Scaptotrigona depilis bee, certain bacteria have been observed to inhibit potentially harmful fungi while permitting beneficial yeast to coexist. However, the specific mechanisms behind these inhibitory effects were not entirely understood. To elucidate these mechanisms, researchers employed conditioned media assays along with genomic and metabolomic analyses. The findings revealed that bacterial secreted products, especially those from common bacterial species like Apilactobacillus kunkeei, exerted a considerable impact on fungal growth. Filamentous fungi, such as the pathogenic Aspergillus, were notably inhibited, likely due to the production of organic acids that led to substrate acidification. Additionally, other acidity-independent factors also contributed to this inhibitory effect. On the other hand, the response of yeast species to these bacterial metabolites exhibited greater variability. A non-symbiotic Zygosaccharomyces was suppressed by bacterial compounds when the pH remained close to neutral, whereas the symbiotic Zygosaccharomyces, essential for larval development, was either maintained or promoted under acidic conditions. Genomic investigations uncovered a scarcity of classical antifungal biosynthetic gene clusters among the most prevalent bacteria found in the larval diet. However, metabolomic studies identified extracellular peptide-like compounds across different bacterial strains, hinting at a possible role for non-canonical secreted products in shaping fungal communities. Overall, these findings suggest that bacterial secreted products play a pivotal role in selectively regulating fungal communities within the stingless bee larval diet, offering a glimpse into the underlying mechanisms that govern these microbial interactions.",
  "summary": "Microbial interactions play an important role in shaping microbiome assembly, such as by limiting invasion by harmful organisms that can directly affect the host or disrupt microbiome-associated benefits. Such interactions have been observed across systems, including in the microbiomes of key pollinators such as stingless bees. In Scaptotrigona depilis, bacteria associated with the larval diet…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}