Comparison of Gut Bacterial Communities of Fall Armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) Reared on Different Host Plants.

Dongbiao Lv,Xiangqun Yuan,Ping Wang,Xuan Zhang,Xueying Liu,Zizheng Yan,Yanlu Dong,Yiping Li

doi:10.3390/ijms222011266

Abstract

Spodoptera frugiperda is a highly polyphagous and invasive agricultural pest that can harm more than 300 plants and cause huge economic losses to crops. Symbiotic bacteria play an important role in the host biology and ecology of herbivores, and have a wide range of effects on host growth and adaptation. In this study, high-throughput sequencing technology was used to investigate the effects of different hosts (corn, wild oat, oilseed rape, pepper, and artificial diet) on gut microbial community structure and diversity. Corn is one of the most favored plants of S. frugiperda. We compared the gut microbiota on corn with and without a seed coating agent. The results showed that Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes dominated the gut microbial community. The microbial abundance on oilseed rape was the highest, the microbial diversity on wild oat was the lowest, and the microbial diversity on corn without a seed coating agent was significantly higher than that with such an agent. PCoA analysis showed that there were significant differences in the gut microbial community among different hosts. PICRUSt analysis showed that most of the functional prediction categories were related to metabolic and cellular processes. The results showed that the gut microbial community of S. frugiperda was affected not only by the host species, but also by different host treatments, which played an important role in host adaptation. It is important to deepen our understanding of the symbiotic relationships between invasive organisms and microorganisms. The study of the adaptability of host insects contributes to the development of more effective and environmentally friendly pest management strategies.

Highlights

IntroductionThe fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), is a highly polyphagous invasive pest originating from tropical and subtropical regions of America [1,2,3,4,5]
High-throughput 16S rRNA sequencing was collected for the gut microbial community composition of 18 midgut samples of fall armyworm (FAW) fed on 5 different host plants—corn (without a seed coating agent (CA), and with a seed coating agent (CB)), wild oat (WO), oilseed rape (OR), and pepper (PP)—and an artificial diet (AD)
The harsh gut conditions of lepidopteran larvae are not as suitable for microbial life [17,50], it is important to consider that the FAW is a highly polyphagous invasive pest that feeds on a wide range of hosts

Summary

Introduction

The fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), is a highly polyphagous invasive pest originating from tropical and subtropical regions of America [1,2,3,4,5]. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), is a highly polyphagous invasive pest originating from tropical and subtropical regions of America [1,2,3,4,5] It has a wide suitable region, wide host range, strong reproductive potential, fast diffusion rate, and produces heavy burst damage. The larvae of FAW can damage 353 species, 227 genera, and 76 families of plants [12]. The multi-host damage of FAW has caused serious economic loss to crops [14]. More effective green control methods are urgently needed in order to enact prevention and control mechanisms for FAW [15]

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Conclusion