Gut Microbiota Dysbiosis Influences Metabolic Homeostasis in Spodoptera frugiperda

Abstract

Insect gut microbiota plays important roles in acquiring nutrition, preventing pathogens infection, modulating immune responses, and communicating with environment. Gut microbiota can be affected by external factors such as foods and antibiotics. Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is an important destructive pest of grain crops worldwide. The function of gut microbiota in S. frugiperda remains to be investigated. In this study, we fed S. frugiperda larvae with artificial diet with antibiotic mixture (penicillin, gentamicin, rifampicin, and streptomycin) to perturb gut microbiota, and then examined the effect of gut microbiota dysbiosis on S. frugiperda gene expression by RNA sequencing. Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Actinobacteria were the most dominant phyla in S. frugiperda. We found that the composition and diversity of gut bacterial community were changed in S. frugiperda after antibiotics treatment. Firmicutes was decreased, and abundance of Enterococcus and Weissella genera was dramatically reduced. Transcriptome analysis showed that 1,394 differentially expressed transcripts (DETs) were found between the control and antibiotics-treated group. The Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) results showed that antibiotics-induced dysbiosis affected many biological processes, such as energy production, metabolism, and the autophagy–lysosome signal pathway. Our results indicated that dysbiosis of gut microbiota by antibiotics exposure affects energy and metabolic homeostasis in S. frugiperda, which help better understand the role of gut microbiota in insects.

Similar Bacterial Communities among Different Populations of a Newly Emerging Invasive Species, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick)

“…The gut microbiota of T. absoluta was dominated by Proteobacteria and Firmicutes at the phylum level, similar to the results of previous studies on lepidopteran insects, including Spodoptera littoralis [ 19 ], Helicoverpa armigera [ 16 ], Plutella xylostella (L.) [ 24 , 53 ], Brithys crini [ 54 ], and Spodoptera frugiperda [ 55 ]. A comparison of the gut bacteria of 30 species of lepidopterans revealed that the most dominant phylum was Proteobacteria [ 56 ].…”

Effects of Host Plant and Insect Generation on Shaping of the Gut Microbiota in the Rice Leaffolder, Cnaphalocrocis medinalis

“…Proteobacteria and Firmicutes have also been reported as dominant taxa in many insects’ gut microbiota, especially in Lepidoptera ( Chen et al, 2020 ; Liu et al, 2020 ). They may function in carbohydrate metabolism, amino acid metabolism, and membrane transport pathways of the host ( Liu et al, 2020 ; Wang et al, 2020a ; Chen et al, 2021 ). In particular, stably colonized gut bacteria may be crucial for insects to adapt to host plants ( Yang et al, 2020b ).…”

Characterization of cultivable intestinal microbiota in Rhynchophorus palmarum Linnaeus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) and determination of its cellulolytic activity

“…It is known that an insect's intestinal microbiota is essential for its survival, and plays fundamental roles in development, growth, adaptation, reproduction, and evolution (Y. Chen et al, 2021; Dong et al, 2021). In insects, most symbiotic relationships are based on nutrition.…”

“…The insect intestinal microbiota is not only associated with the acquisition of nutrients but plays an important role in the development and maintenance of the host's immune system (Y. Chen et al, 2021; Muhammad et al, 2019). However, the complexity, dynamics, and types of interactions between insects and their intestinal microbiota are not yet fully understood (Q. Ma et al, 2021; Xu et al, 2015).…”