High Diversity of Bacterial Communities in Developmental Stages of Bactrocera carambolae (Insecta: Tephritidae) Revealed by Illumina MiSeq Sequencing of 16S rRNA Gene

Abstract

Bactrocera carambolae is a highly polyphagous fruit pest of agricultural importance. This study reports the bacterial communities associated with the developmental stages of B. carambolae. The microbiota of the developmental stages were investigated by targeted 16S rRNA gene (V3-V4 region) sequencing using the Illumina MiSeq. At 97% similarity, there were 19 bacterial phyla and unassigned bacteria, comprising 39 classes, 86 orders, 159 families and 311 genera. The bacterial composition varied among the specimens of developmental stage and across developmental stages as well as exuviae. Four phyla of bacteria (with relative abundance of ≥1% in at least one specimen)-Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes and Proteobacteria-were recovered from the larva, pupa, adult stages and exuviae. Proteobacteria was the predominant phylum in all the developmental stages as well as the exuviae. Enterobacteriaceae (Proteobacteria) was the predominant family in the adult flies while the family [Weeksellaceae] (Bacteroidetes) was predominant in the larval and pupal stages. Among the genera occurring in more than one developmental stage of B. carambolae, Erwinia was more abundant in the larval stage, Halomonas more abundant in adult female, Stenotrophomonas more abundant in adult male, and Chryseobacterium more abundant in the larval and pupal stages. The results indicate transmission of bacteria OTUs from immatures to the newly emerged adults, and from exuviae to the environment.

Irradiation effect on the structure of bacterial communities associated with the oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis

“…Interestingly, at the genus level in our study, Lactobacillus and Acetobacter were the most dominant taxa in larvae, whereas members of the Enterobacteriaceae family prevailed in adults. Although previous studies reported the predominance of Acetobacteraceae, Lactobacillaceae, and Enterobacteriaceae across both larval and adult stages (Yong et al., ), our findings agree with the results of Zhao et al. () and suggest that the different environmental conditions, food supply, and digestion processes in larvae and adults could influence the diversity of the harbored microbiota.…”

“…Proteobacteria was the dominant phylum in all bacterial symbiome samples of B. dorsalis examined, with Alphaproteobacteria being the most abundant class during the larval stage and Gammaproteobacteria in adults. The high abundance of Proteobacteria is consistent with previous studies, in which Proteobacteria have been observed in both larvae and adults and likely supports their importance in sugar metabolism (Yong et al, 2017;Zhao et al, 2018). The finding that Alphaproteobacteria was dominant only in the larval stage and almost absent in the adults concurs with that of previous studies on B. dorsalis based on pyrosequencing (Andongma et al, 2015).…”

“…The finding that Alphaproteobacteria was dominant only in the larval stage and almost absent in the adults concurs with that of previous studies on B. dorsalis based on pyrosequencing (Andongma et al, 2015). Unlike earlier studies, Firmicutes were not the dominant group in adults (Andongma et al, 2015), although it was represented in all life stages, and was definitely more abundant than Bacteroidetes (<1%) (Yong et al, 2017). This may be related with the nature of the samples, as in the abovementioned studies the samples were collected from the field.…”

“…The study of Yong et al. () was associated with the developmental stages of Bactrocera carambolae Drew & Hancock and not B. dorsalis . Interestingly, at the genus level in our study, Lactobacillus and Acetobacter were the most dominant taxa in larvae, whereas members of the Enterobacteriaceae family prevailed in adults.…”

Tephritidae bacterial symbionts: potentials for pest management

“…Till now different bacterial genera, namely -Pantoea, Micrococcus, Agrobacterium, Xanthomonas, Acetobacter, Lactobacillus, Escherichia, Kluyvera, Arthrobacter, Proteus, Bacillus, Hafnia, Pseudomonas, Chryseobacterium, Defluvibacter, Enterobacter, Providencia,, Flavobacterium, Halomonas, Streptococcus, Klebsiella, Listeria, Staphylococcus, Ochrobactrum, Pectobacterium, Serratia, Stenotrophomonas, Delftia, Raoultella, Serratia, Erwinia and Citrobacter have been isolated, identified and characterized from esophageal bulb, the gut and reproductive organs of laboratory-reared and field-collected tephritid flies, both male and female (Lloyd et al, 1986;Drew & Lloyd, 1987;Jang & Nishijima, 1990;Lauzon et al, 2000;Zinder & Dworkin, 2000;Bergey et al, 2001;Kuzina et al, 2001;Marchini et al, 2002;Belcari et al, 2003;Behar et al, 2005Behar et al, , 2009Capuzzo et al, 2005;Sacchetti et al, 2008;Kounatidis et al, 2009;Prabhakar et al, 2009bPrabhakar et al, , 2013Thaochan et al, 2010;Wang et al, 2011Wang et al, , 2013Wang et al, , 2014Reddy et al, 2014;Naaz et al, 2016;Yong et al, 2017b). In general, from many studies, tephritid bacteria mostly belong to the gram-negative type except Micrococcus, Lactobacillus, Arthrobacter, Bacillus, Streptococcus, Listeria, and Staphylococcus.…”