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Abstract Studying host-associated microbiome assembly is key to understanding microbial and host evolution and health. While honey bee microbiomes have been central models for such investigations among pollinators, they overlook the diversity of eusocial dynamics and multi- kingdom interactions. Stingless bees, highly eusocial managed bees that rely on yeast for larval development, offer a valuable complementary system to study microbiome assembly, and within an eco-evolutionary framework. Using amplicon sequencing, metagenomics, and microbial experiments, we investigate the drivers of stingless bee microbiome assembly. We reveal a spatially structured, site-adapted microbiome, where high microbial influx hive components are segregated from the brood, which harbors a stable, multi-kingdom community. We show that the brood microbiome is not only physically protected but also actively maintained through highly selective bacterial-fungal interactions. Our findings uncover multi-layered mechanisms shaping an eusocial insect microbiome, from host biology to cross-kingdom interactions, while providing critical insights into microbiome maintenance of important pollinators. 

Climate change has led to an alarming increase in the frequency and severity of wildfires worldwide. While it is known that amphibians have physiological characteristics that make them highly susceptible to fire, the specific impacts of wildfires on their symbiotic skin bacterial communities (i.e., bacteriomes) and infection by the deadly chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, remain poorly understood. Here, we address this research gap by evaluating the effects of fire on the amphibian skin bacteriome and the subsequent risk of chytridiomycosis. We sampled the skin bacteriome of the Neotropical species Scinax squalirostris and Boana leptolineata in fire and control plots before and after experimental burnings. Fire was linked with a marked increase in bacteriome beta dispersion, a proxy for skin microbial dysbiosis, alongside a trend of increased pathogen loads. By shedding light on the effects of fire on amphibian skin bacteriomes, this study contributes to our broader understanding of the impacts of wildfires on vulnerable vertebrate species.