Background: Monochamus alternatus Hope is one of the insect vectors of pinewood nematode (Bursaphelenchus xylophilus), which causes the destructive pine wilt disease. The microorganisms within the ecosystem, comprising plants, their environment, and insect vectors, form complex networks. This study presents a systematic analysis of the bacterial microbiota in the M. alternatus midgut and its habitat niche.Methods: Total DNA was extracted from 20 types of samples (with three replicates each) from M. alternatus and various tissues of healthy and infected P. massoniana (pines). 16S rDNA amplicon sequencing was conducted to determine the composition and diversity of the bacterial microbiota in each sample. Moreover, the relative abundances of bacteria in the midgut of M. alternatus larvae were verified by counting the colony-forming units.Results: Pinewood nematode infection increased the microbial diversity in pines. Bradyrhizobium, Burkholderia, Dyella, Mycobacterium, and Mucilaginibacter were the dominant bacterial genera in the soil and infected pines. These results indicate that the bacterial community in infected pines may be associated with the soil microbiota. Interestingly, the abundance of the genus Gryllotalpicola was highest in the bark of infected pines. The genus Cellulomonas was not found in the midgut of M. alternatus, but it peaked in the phloem of infected pines, followed by the phloem of heathy pines. Moreover, the genus Serratia was not only present in the habitat niche, but it was also enriched in the M. alternatus midgut. The colony-forming unit assays showed that the relative abundance of Serratia sp. peaked in the midgut of instar II larvae (81%).Conclusions: Overall, the results indicate that the bacterial microbiota in the soil and in infected pines are correlated. The Gryllotalpicola sp. and Cellulomonas sp. are potential microbial markers of pine wilt disease. Additionally, Serratia sp. could be an ideal agent for expressing insecticidal protein in the insect midgut by genetic engineering, which represents a new use of microbes to control M. alternatus.

Background Monochamus alternatus Hope is one of the insect vectors of pinewood nematode ( Bursaphelenchus xylophilus ), which causes the destructive pine wilt disease. The microorganisms within the ecosystem, comprising plants, their environment, and insect vectors, form complex networks. This study presents a systematic analysis of the bacterial microbiota in the M. alternatus midgut and its habitat niche. Methods Total DNA was extracted from 20 types of samples (with three replicates each) from M. alternatus and various tissues of healthy and infected P. massoniana (pines). 16S rDNA amplicon sequencing was conducted to determine the composition and diversity of the bacterial microbiota in each sample. Moreover, the relative abundances of bacteria in the midgut of M. alternatus larvae were verified by counting the colony-forming units. Results Pinewood nematode infection increased the microbial diversity in pines. Bradyrhizobium , Burkholderia , Dyella , Mycobacterium , and Mucilaginibacter were the dominant bacterial genera in the soil and infected pines. These results indicate that the bacterial community in infected pines may be associated with the soil microbiota. Interestingly, the abundance of the genus Gryllotalpicola was highest in the bark of infected pines. The genus Cellulomonas was not found in the midgut of M. alternatus , but it peaked in the phloem of infected pines, followed by the phloem of heathy pines. Moreover, the genus Serratia was not only present in the habitat niche, but it was also enriched in the M. alternatus midgut. The colony-forming unit assays showed that the relative abundance of Serratia sp. peaked in the midgut of instar II larvae (81%). Conclusions Overall, the results indicate that the bacterial microbiota in the soil and in infected pines are correlated. The Gryllotalpicola sp. and Cellulomonas sp. are potential microbial markers of pine wilt disease. Additionally, Serratia sp. could be an ideal agent for expressing insecticidal protein in the insect midgut by genetic engineering, which represents a new use of microbes to control M. alternatus .

Background Pine wilt disease (PWD) is a destructive disease caused by the pinewood nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus . Monochamus alternatus Hope is the main vector of this disease. The symbiotic microorganisms can play an important role in the transmission cycle mechanism. However, the role of bacterial microorganisms in the transmission of pine wood nematode by M. alternatus is not clear currently. The main purpose of this study is to reveal the composition and diversity of microbial flora in the gut of M. alternatus , as well as healthy and infected Pinus massoniana and its peripheral environment to discover the important microbial flora contributing to the transmission cycle.Methods In this study, total DNA was extracted from 60 samples, including 20 samples of M. alternatus gut from different larval instars, healthy P. massoniana , nematode-infected P. massoniana and their peripheral environment (needles, bark, phloem, xylem, root, surface soil and rhizosphere soil), by triplicate. Samples were used for 16S rDNA Amplicon sequencing to determine the composition and diversity of microbial flora in each sample.Results Infection of pinewood nematode resulted in an increase of the microbial community in the nematode-infected P. massoniana and its peripheral environment when compared with healthy P. massoniana , the microbial community in different tissues changed. Among them, Gryllotalpicola and Cellulomonas showed to be endemic microorganisms in nematode-infected P. massoniana , which can be used as indicators to detect the disease. Serratia was shown as an opportunistic pathogen, and was found to be enriched in M. alternatus gut and was also detected in the host plant tissues.Conclusions This study clarified the change of microbial community in the transmission of pine wilt disease by M. alternatus . An important theoretical basis for the prevention of pine wilt disease was structured by our research.