Symbiotic bacteria motivate the foraging decision and promote fecundity and survival of Bactrocera dorsalis (Diptera: Tephritidae)

Abstract

Background The gut bacteria of tephritid fruit flies play prominent roles in nutrition, reproduction, maintenance and ecological adaptations of the host. Here, we adopted an approach based on direct observation of symbiotic or axenic flies feeding on dishes seeded with drops of full diet (containing all amino acids) or full diet supplemented with bacteria at similar concentrations to explore the effects of intestinal bacteria on foraging decision and fitness of Bactrocera dorsalis. Results The results show that intestinal probiotics elicit beneficial foraging decision and enhance the female reproduction fitness and survival of B. dorsalis (symbiotic and axenic), yet preferences for probiotic diets were significantly higher in axenic flies to which they responded faster compared to full diet. Moreover, females fed diet supplemented with Pantoea dispersa and Enterobacter cloacae laid more eggs but had shorter lifespan while female fed Enterococcus faecalis and Klebsiella oxytoca enriched diets lived longer but had lower fecundity compared to the positive control. Conversely, flies fed sugar diet (negative control) were not able to produce eggs, but lived longer than those from the positive control. Conclusions These results suggest that intestinal bacteria can drive the foraging decision in a way which promotes the reproduction and survival of B. dorsalis. Our data highlight the potentials of gut bacterial isolates to control the foraging behavior of the fly and c empower the sterile insect technique (SIT) program through the mass rearing.

Diversity of bacteria in different life stages and their impact on the development and reproduction of Zeugodacus tau (Diptera: Tephritidae)

“…Recently, Akami et al . (2019) found that feeding B. dorsalis with Enterobacter cloacae and Pantoea dispersa increased their fecundity and feeding them with Enterococcus faecalis decreased their fecundity, which is similar to our findings that Enterobacter had a positive effect and Enterococcus had a negative impact on the fecundity of Z. tau .…”

Artificial Larval Diet Mediates the Microbiome of Queensland Fruit Fly

“…In tephritid flies, numerous studies have demonstrated that gut bacteria are associated with digestion, detoxification, immune response, metabolism, sexual behavior, reproduction, and survival ( Behar et al, 2005 ; Hosokawa et al, 2007 ; Ben Ami et al, 2010 ; Augustinos et al, 2015 ; Ben-Yosef et al, 2015 ; Akami et al, 2019 ). Various strains of Enterobacteriaceae have been added to artificial larval diets to improve pupal weight and mating performance, and to decrease developmental time, in B. oleae and C. capitata ( Sacchetti et al, 2008 ; Ben Ami et al, 2010 ; Gavriel et al, 2011 ; Hamden et al, 2013 ; Augustinos et al, 2015 ).…”

“…Microbial communities are often highly abundant in insect digestive systems ( Dillon and Dillon, 2004 ), especially bacteria ( Broderick et al, 2004 ; Robinson et al, 2010 ). In many cases, symbiotic bacteria have been found to provide nutrition that contributes to insect host fitness ( Baumann, 2005 ; Akami et al, 2019 ). Microbes can provide amino acids ( Nogge, 1981 ) and essential vitamins ( Douglas, 1998 ), as well as nitrogen and carbon compounds ( Benemann, 1973 ; Dillon and Dillon, 2004 ) to insect hosts.…”

Comparative genomics of Klebsiella michiganensis BD177 and related members of Klebsiella sp. reveal the symbiotic relationship with Bactrocera dorsalis

“…Our previous research also showed that K. michiganensis BD177 improved the mating competitiveness and lifespan of sterile male B. dorsalis [23]. Additionally, the recent study reported that K. oxytoca could affect the foraging decision [52] and mate-selection [53] of B. dorsalis. It is suggested that riboflavin and folate synthetic ability of K. michiganensis BD177 may contribute to the sexual performance and lifespan of B. dorsalis.…”