Comparison of intestinal bacterial and fungal communities across various xylophagous beetle larvae (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae)

Abstract

The microbial gut communities associated with various xylophagous beetles offer great potential for different biotechnologies and elaboration of novel pest management strategies. In this research, the intestinal bacterial and fungal communities of various cerambycid larvae, including Acmaeops septentrionis, Acanthocinus aedilis, Callidium coriaceum, Trichoferus campestris and Chlorophorus herbstii, were investigated. The intestinal microbial communities of these Cerambycidae species were mostly represented by members of the bacterial phyla Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria and the fungal phylum Ascomycota. However, the bacterial and fungal communities varied by beetle species and between individual organisms. Furthermore, bacterial communities’ metagenomes reconstruction indicated the genes that encode enzymes involved in the lignocellulose degradation (such as peroxidases, alpha-L-fucosidases, beta-xylosidases, beta-mannosidases, endoglucanases, beta-glucosidases and others) and nitrogen fixation (nitrogenases). Most of the predicted genes potentially related to lignocellulose degradation were enriched in the T. campestris, A. aedilis and A. septentrionis larval gut consortia, whereas predicted genes affiliated with the nitrogenase component proteins were enriched in the T. campestris, A. septentrionis and C. herbstii larval gut consortia. Several bacteria and fungi detected in the current work could be involved in the nutrition of beetle larvae.

Comparison of gut bacterial communities and their associations with host diets in four fruit borers

“…16,17,24 In the earlier research, Proteobacteria and Firmicutes symbionts were involved in digestion and nutrient utilization from a range of polysaccharides, including cellulose and hemicellulose, by hosts. 3,49 The high abundance of Proteobacteria and Firmicutes observed in our research supports their importance in the digestion process. The differences in relative abundance of phyla provided us with an overall evaluation of differences in bacterial composition as each phylum typically differs in function.…”

“…This result was supported by previous studies showing that Proteobacteria and Firmicutes were the predominant phyla in many insect gut samples . In the earlier research, Proteobacteria and Firmicutes symbionts were involved in digestion and nutrient utilization from a range of polysaccharides, including cellulose and hemicellulose, by hosts . The high abundance of Proteobacteria and Firmicutes observed in our research supports their importance in the digestion process.…”

Divergence in Gut Bacterial Community Among Life Stages of the Rainbow Stag Beetle Phalacrognathus muelleri (Coleptera: Lucanidae)

“…Previous studies have focused on the gut bacterial community of coleopteran pests to advance progress in pest control [ 10 , 11 ], including invasive bark beetles (Scolytidae) and longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae), that mainly feed on tree xylem and phloem. These species are considered to be serious pests of forests, as they grow and develop while feeding on lignocellulose [ 12 , 13 ].…”

The microbiome of pest insects: it is not just bacteria

“…Recent studies based on meta-barcoding using fungalspecific primers have revealed a rich fungal community in both pest and non-pest insects (Chandler & Kopp, 2012;Hu et al, 2015;Miller et al, 2016;Boccazzi et al, 2017;Ram ırez-Camejo et al, 2017;Mohammed et al, 2018;Quan & Eisen, 2018). Fungal species that have been associated with pest insects comprise, among others, species of molds belonging to the genera Aspergillus, Beauveria, Metarhizium, Cordyceps, Isaria, and Pandora (Shang et al, 2015).…”