Background: The potato tuber moth (PTM), Phthorimaea operculella (Zeller), is a worldwide pest that feeds on both the leaves and tubers of potato plants. PTM larvae can digest leaves, or tubers, resulting in serious damage to potato plants in the field and potato tubers in storage. To understand how midgut bacterial diversity is influenced by the consumption of these two tissue types, the symbiotic bacteria in the potato-feeding PTM midgut and the endophytic bacteria of potato tissues were analyzed. Results: At the genus level, the bacterial community composition in the PTM midgut was influenced by the tissues consumed, owing to their different nutrient contents. Escherichia_Shigella and Enterobacter were the most dominant genera in the midgut of leaf-feeding and tuber-feeding PTMs, respectively. Interestingly, even though only present in low abundance in leaves and tubers, Escherichia_Shigella were dominantly distributed only in the midgut of leaffeeding PTMs, indicating that specific accumulation of these genera have occurred by feeding on leaves. Moreover, Enterobacter, the most dominant genus in the midgut of tuber-feeding PTMs, was undetectable in all potato tissues, indicating it is gut-specific origin and tuber feeding-specific accumulation. Both Escherichia_Shigella and Enterobacter abundances were positively correlated with the dominant contents of potato leaves and tubers, respectively. Conclusions: Enrichment of specific PTM midgut bacterial communities was related to different nutrient levels in different tissues consumed by the insect, which in turn influenced host utilization. We provide evidence that a portion of the intestinal microbes of PTMs may be derived from potato endophytic bacteria and improve the understanding of the relationship between potato endophytic bacteria and the gut microbiota of PTMs, which may offer support for integrated management of this worldwide pest.
The potato tuber moth (PTM), Phthorimaea operculella (Zeller), is an important pest of Solanaceae crops and especially devastating to potatoes. There is no significant difference in morphological characteristics of PTM from the first to third instar larvae; therefore, it is difficult to directly determine the number of instars of this pest based on morphology. In the present study, head capsule width and length and mandible width of 340 PTM individuals were measured. Density‐based spatial clustering of applications with noise (DBSCAN) clustering was used for instar grouping. The results of DBSCAN clustering were compared with those obtained using Gaussian mixture models and k‐means clustering; the results of the three clustering methods were verified using Brooks–Dyar rule, Crosby rule and linear regression model. The clusters obtained using the three methods were the same and comprised four PTM instars with three morphological characteristics. Moreover, the results of the three methods fit the Brooks–Dyar rule, Crosby rule, frequency analysis and logarithmic regression model well. Head capsule width was the best morphological characteristic for determining the number of instars of PTM, and this characteristic may be used for determining PTM instars in the field. These results show that the DBSCAN clustering method is a promising tool for the identification of insect instars.
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