Data associated with "A metagenomic survey reveals widespread antibiotic resistance genes in honey bee (<i>Apis mellifera</i>) gut bacteria across the United States"

We compared ARG occurrence among core honey bee gut bacterial genera to determine whether any taxa act as ARG reservoirs. ARG occurrence did vary among honey bee gut symbionts, with <i>Gilliamella</i><i> </i>and <i>Frischella</i> containing the highest proportions of ARGs despite their low relative abundance in the gut community. As tetracycline is the most commonly used antibiotic in beekeeping, we compared the frequency and abundance of tetracycline resistance genes across apiaries.

All hives contained tetracycline resistance genes, with <i>tetB</i> and <i>tetM</i> present at all apiaries. Based on qPCR, <i>tetB</i> and <i>tetM</i> abundance varied significantly among apiaries. <i>TetB</i><i> </i>was higher overall and negatively correlated with longitude. We demonstrate honey bee gut bacteria possess a diversity of ARGs, not all of which are consistent antibiotic use in beekeeping, ARG frequency varies among bacterial genera in the honey bee gut, and certain ARGs are associated with hive geographic location.</p>