Host plant and population source drive diversity of microbial gut communities in two polyphagous insects

Symbioses between insects and microbes are ubiquitous, but vary greatly in terms of function, transmission mechanism, and location in the insect. Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) are one of the largest and most economically important insect orders; yet, in many cases, the ecology and functions of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports 2019-02, Vol.9 (1), p.2792-2792, Article 2792
Main Authors: Jones, Asher G., Mason, Charles J., Felton, Gary W., Hoover, Kelli
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
631/158/2456
631/326/2565/2134
631/326/2565/547
631/601/1466
Bacteria
Butterflies & moths
Colonization
Corn
Economic importance
Foregut
Helicoverpa zea
Herbivores
Host plants
Humanities and Social Sciences
Insects
Intestinal microflora
Microbiomes
Microbiota
Midgut
multidisciplinary
Next-generation sequencing
Plant species
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Spodoptera frugiperda
Symbiosis
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Summary:Symbioses between insects and microbes are ubiquitous, but vary greatly in terms of function, transmission mechanism, and location in the insect. Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) are one of the largest and most economically important insect orders; yet, in many cases, the ecology and functions of their gut microbiomes are unresolved. We used high-throughput sequencing to determine factors that influence gut microbiomes of field-collected fall armyworm ( Spodoptera frugiperda ) and corn earworm ( Helicoverpa zea ). Fall armyworm midgut bacterial communities differed from those of corn earworm collected from the same host plant species at the same site. However, corn earworm bacterial communities differed between collection sites. Subsequent experiments using fall armyworm evaluating the influence of egg source and diet indicated that that host plant had a greater impact on gut communities. We also observed differences between regurgitant (foregut) and midgut bacterial communities of the same insect host, suggesting differential colonization. Our findings indicate that host plant is a major driver shaping gut microbiota, but differences in insect physiology, gut region, and local factors can also contribute to variation in microbiomes. Additional studies are needed to assess the mechanisms that affect variation in insect microbiomes, as well as the ecological implications of this variability in caterpillars.
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/s41598-019-39163-9