Host Phylogeny and Diet Shape Gut Microbial Communities Within Bamboo-Feeding Insects

Abstract

The gut microbiome plays an important role in a host’s development and adaption to its dietary niche. In this study, a group of bamboo-feeding insects are used to explore the potential role of the gut microbiota in the convergent adaptation to extreme diet specialization. Specifically, using a 16S rRNA marker and an Illumina sequencing platform, we profiled the microbial communities of 76 gut samples collected from nine bamboo-feeding insects, including both hemimetabolous (Orthoptera and Hemiptera) and holometabolous (Coleoptera and Lepidoptera) species, which are specialized in three distinct dietary niches: bamboo leaf, shoot, and sap. The gut microbiota of these insects were dominated by Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, and Bacteroidetes and were clustered into solid (leaf and shoot) and liquid (sap) dietary niches. The gut bacterial communities of insects feeding on solid diet overlapped significantly, even though these insects belong to phylogenetically distant lineages representing different orders. In addition, the presence of cellulolytic bacterial communities within the gut microbiota allows bamboo-feeding insects to adapt to a highly specialized, fiber-rich diet. Although both phylogeny and diet can impact the structure and composition of gut microbiomes, phylogeny is the primary driving force underlying the convergent adaptation to a highly specialized diet, especially when the related insect species harbor similar gut microbiomes and share the same dietary niche over evolutionary timescales. These combined findings lay the foundation for future research on how convergent feeding strategies impact the interplays between hosts and their gut microbiomes and how the gut microbiota may facilitate convergent evolution in phylogenetically distant species in adaptation to the shared diet.

Species Identity Dominates over Environment in Driving Bacterial Community Assembly in Wild Invasive Leaf Miners

“…We have several potential explanations for the observed variation in bacterial diversity and composition among native and invasive leaf miners. First, host physiochemical conditions and feeding habits vary among species, impacting the community composition of microbiota ( 26 , 54 , 55 ). The native species L. chinensis is oligophagous, while the three invasive Liriomyza species are highly polyphagous ( 45 , 46 ).…”

Mechanisms of fungal community assembly in wild stoneflies moderated by host characteristics and local environment

“…Microbiota composition is known to vary among host species, sex, and developmental stages, and these differences have been generally attributed to host-specific selection 15 , 32 , 46 . Host morphology and physiochemical conditions vary among species and developmental stages, impacting the community structure of microbiota 12 , 16 , 32 . Thus, despite sympatric or adjacent wild stonefly species sharing the same or similar environmental conditions, various morphological and physiochemical differences may explain their different fungal community composition.…”

“…4 ), suggesting that other environmental factors are involved in shaping stonefly fungal community composition. For instance, several previous studies have demonstrated that diet also plays a substantial role in microbial diversity and composition 8 , 16 – 19 . Given that the diet of different stonefly species varies significantly from pollen to leaf fragments, detritus, lichen, and animal matter 42 – 44 , 51 , it could be speculated that host diet might explain certain aspects of microbiome diversity and composition among stonefly taxa.…”

“…Multiple deterministic factors (e.g., selection) have been shown to modulate microbial community diversity patterns in many animals 8 – 11 . Specifically, the host is a major force in governing microbial community structures in several animal species 12 – 16 . In parallel, environmental factors such as diet 17 – 19 , climate, and geographic variables 20 , 21 are also important.…”

Analysis of Intestinal Microbial Diversity of Four Species of Grasshoppers and Determination of Cellulose Digestibility

“…Jesús M. et al confirmed that different time scales strongly influence the diversity, composition and metabolic capabilities of Brithys crini gut microbial communities [ 34 ]. Huang et al confirmed that both phylogeny and diet can impact the structure and composition of gut microbiomes [ 35 ]. The grasshoppers collected in this experiment were all adult, and the location and time were close to each other.…”