The Effect of Antibiotics on Associated Bacterial Community of Stored Product Mites

Abstract

BackgroundBacteria are associated with the gut, fat bodies and reproductive organs of stored product mites (Acari: Astigmata). The mites are pests due to the production of allergens. Addition of antibiotics to diets can help to characterize the association between mites and bacteria.Methodology and Principal FindingsAmpicillin, neomycin and streptomycin were added to the diets of mites and the effects on mite population growth (Acarus siro, Lepidoglyphus destructor and Tyrophagus putrescentiae) and associated bacterial community structure were assessed. Mites were treated by antibiotic supplementation (1 mgg−1 of diet) for 21 days and numbers of mites and bacterial communities were analyzed and compared to the untreated control. Bacterial quantities, determined by real-time PCR, significantly decreased in antibiotic treated specimens from 5 to 30 times in A. siro and T. putrescentiae, while no decline was observed in L. destructor. Streptomycin treatment eliminated Bartonella-like bacteria in the both A. siro and T. putrescentiae and Cardinium in T. putrescentiae. Solitalea-like bacteria proportion increased in the communities of neomycin and streptomycin treated A. siro specimens. Kocuria proportion increased in the bacterial communities of ampicillin and streptomycin treated A. siro and neomycin and streptomycin treated L. destructor.Conclusions/SignificanceThe work demonstrated the changes of mite associated bacterial community under antibiotic pressure in pests of medical importance. Pre-treatment of mites by 1 mgg−1 antibiotic diets improved mite fitness as indicated accelerated population growth of A. siro pretreated streptomycin and neomycin and L. destructor pretreated by neomycin. All tested antibiotics supplemented to diets caused the decrease of mite growth rate in comparison to the control diet.

Carpoglyphus lactis(Acari: Astigmata) from various dried fruits differed in associated micro-organisms

“…The antibiotics used here as diet additives were suppressive to the bacteria, but potentially can be toxic to the mites directly (Kopecky et al . ). Therefore, the suppression of population growth on the antibiotic‐supplemented diet should be the result of the both effects.…”

“…S9137, Sigma‐Aldrich) were added separately to the HDMd (Kopecky et al . ). The final concentration was 1 mg of antibiotics per g of diet (mgg −1 ).…”

<p align="center"><strong>A review of prevalence and phylogeny of the bacterial symbiont <em>Cardinium</em> in mites (subclass: Acari)</strong></p>

“…In addition, the infection in mite species of economic importance appears to receive much attention, as indicated by well-documented data for these species. The screened mite species are only a small proportion, and the bacterial community of mites is influenced by environmental factors (Novelli et al 2008;Wu & Hoy 2012;Kopecky et al 2014). It is predicated that more infected species exist on the basis of extensive sampling and sensitive detection approaches.…”

Application of urea–agarose gel electrophoresis to select non-redundant 16S rRNAs for taxonomic studies: palladium(II) removal bacteria

“…These bacteria have been detected in extreme environments such as in a denitrification reactor and in saline-alkaline lakes (Zhu et al 2015;Silva 2015). Moreover, solitalea-like bacteria have been described as not being influenced by antibiotic (neomycin and streptomycin) treatments (Kopecky et al 2014), which is another evidence of their resistance to extreme conditions. The Alkaliphilus species usually survive in certain extreme environments.…”