Draft Genome Sequence of Enterococcus mundtii SL 16, an Indigenous Gut Bacterium of the Polyphagous Pest Spodoptera littoralis.

Abstract

Insects are the most abundant and diverse animal class on Earth, and they are associated with an amazing variety of symbiotic microorganisms, which participate in many relationships with the hosts (Douglas, 2015). For example, the fungal symbiont (Leucoagaricus gongylophorus) of leaf-cutting ants produces diverse enzymes for the degradation of plant material (Kooij et al., 2016). Similarly, Bacillus pumilus isolated from the gut of wood boring Mesomorphus sp. (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) exhibits significant cellulolytic and xylose isomerase activities (Balsingh et al., 2016). The Lepidoptera, including moths and butterflies, is one of the most widespread and widely recognizable insect orders in the world. Although butterflies and moths play an important role in the natural ecosystem as pollinators and as food in the food chain, their leaf-chewing larvae are often problematic in agriculture, as their main source of food is live plants (Mithofer and Boland, 2012). The leafworm Spodoptera littoralis (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is a highly polyphagous lepidopteran pest found worldwide and also an important model system used in a variety of biological research. Recent extensive surveys of its microbiome reveal that Enterococcus mundtii is one of the predominant gut microorganisms of S. littoralis and present at high frequency (Tang et al., 2012; Chen et al., 2016; Teh et al., 2016). Particularly, a stable isotope labeling-based approach suggested that this phylotype was also highly metabolically active inside the host across life history of S. littoralis, indicating the significant role played by E. mundtii in host biology (Shao et al., 2014). Therefore, the symbiotic E. mundtii probably constitutes a key factor for the success of this generalist herbivore in adapting to different environments and food sources. The aim of this study was to produce a genome sequence of the strain SL 16, which would assist in understanding of the coevolution of the microbe and the insect host. The dataset has been submitted to NCBI Whole Genome Shotgun (WGS) projects and is reported here, providing an overview of the genome sequence and relevant features of gut symbiotic E. mundtii.