Specific Enriched Acinetobacter in Camellia Weevil Gut Facilitate the Degradation of Tea Saponin: Inferred from Bacterial Genomic and Transcriptomic Analyses

Abstract

Microorganism is directly exposed to the plant toxin environment and play a crucial third party in herbivores gut. Although previous studies have proved the existence of gut bacteria that help CWs degrade TS, the specific core flora and its function have not been explored.

Host genetics and larval host plant modulate microbiome structure and evolution underlying the intimate insect–microbe–plant interactions in Parnassius species on the Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau

“…At the generic level, the microbial taxa Wolbachia , Acinetobacter , Escherichia , Brevundimonas , and Muribaculum were specifically enriched in the subgenus Parnassius samples, whereas the Erwinia and Pseudomonas were enriched for other Parnassius subgenera (Figure 11a ). Among these bacteria genera, Wolbachia has been reported to not only colonize reproductive tissues of Lepidoptera, known for its role in sex ratio distortion, but also can increase the resistance of their hosts to pathogens, leading to increased longevity and fecundity of the lepidopteran host (reviewed in Duan et al., 2020 ; Liu & Guo, 2019 ; Paniagua Voirol et al., 2018 ); Acinetobacter , Erwinia , and Pseudomonas in insects could facilitate the degradation of host plant toxin (e.g., tea saponin, caffeine, and terpene), or cause soft rot, necroses, and wilt on a variety of plants, providing evidence that gut bacteria mediate adaptation of herbivorous insects to phytochemical resistance (Ceja‐Navarro et al., 2015 ; Chen et al., 2020 ; Li, Huang, et al., 2022 ; Starr & Chatterjee, 1972 ); and Brevundimonas had significant correlations with the concentrations of differential metabolites (e.g., phospholipids and certain amino acids) in insect hemolymph (Li, Zheng, et al., 2022 ). Metabolites produced from Muribaculum could contribute to the gut barrier integrity and support the defense against inflammation (reviewed by Sharma et al., 2021 ).…”

Fine-Scale Genetic Structure of Curculio chinensis (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) Based on Mitochondrial COI: The Role of Host Specificity and Spatial Distance

“…Haplotype phylogenetic relationships based on 1083 bp COI showed that populations collected from the same host were clustered together. This may be associated with a potential microbial contribution to the chemical adaptability of tea saponin of Camellia species [9,10]. Some previous studies have also indicated host-associated divergence in Curculio species [13,15,44].…”

“…For C. chinensis, the tea saponin content varies among host species and affects the composition of gut microbiota. The current study focuses on the adaptation of gut bacteria to the phytochemical resistance of oil-tea Camellia [9,10]. For other species of Coleoptera with limited flight ability, natural geographical factors and host plants often play crucial roles in influencing the genetic structure and gene flow among populations.…”

Phenotypic plasticity plays an essential role in the confrontation between plants and herbivorous insects

“…It is an interesting phenomenon that insect gut microbes can be influenced by both sides of the interaction (Alberoni et al 2021;Li et al 2022). Here, we propose a hypothesis for this phenomenon: the utilization of insect gut microbiota serves as a battleground for plantinsect interactions, with both parties benefiting from this "neutral resource."…”