Abstract
Insects typically host substantial microbial communities (the ‘microbiome’) that can serve as a vital source of nutrients and also acts as a modulator of immune function. While recent studies have shown that diet is an important influence on the gut microbiome, very little is known about the dynamics underpinning microbial acquisition from natural food sources. Here, we addressed this gap by comparing the microbiome of larvae of the polyphagous fruit fly Bactrocera tryoni (‘Queensland fruit fly’) that were collected from five different fruit types (sapodilla [from two different localities], hog plum, pomegranate, green apple, and quince) from North-east to South-east Australia. Using Next-Generation Sequencing on the Illumina MiSeq platform, we addressed two questions: (1) what bacterial communities are available to B. tryoni larvae from different host fruit; and (2) how does the microbiome vary between B. tryoni larvae and its host fruit? The abundant bacterial taxa were similar for B. tryoni larvae from different fruit despite significant differences in the overall microbial community compositions. Our study suggests that the bacterial community structure of B. tryoni larvae is related less to the host fruit (diet) microbiome and more to vertical transfer of the microbiome during egg laying. Our findings also suggest that geographic location may play a quite limited role in structuring of larval microbiomes. This is the first study to use Next-Generation Sequencing to analyze the microbiome of B. tryoni larvae together with the host fruit, an approach that has enabled greatly increased resolution of relationships between the insect’s microbiome and that of the surrounding host tissues.
Highlights
Insects commonly have close relationships with a diverse microbiome that has substantial influence on their ecology and evolution through immunity development, pathogen resistance, gut physiology and fitness at every stage of the life cycle[1,2,3,4,5]
Bactrocera tryoni (Queensland fruit fly, or ‘Q-fly’) is a highly polyphagous tephritid fly that is widespread along the east coast of Australia where it is a significant pest of horticulture[30,31,32]
Sanger sequencing of the Cytochrome Oxidase I (COI) gene confirmed that all 36 wild larvae, collected from 5 different fruit type/origins were B. tryoni
Summary
Insects commonly have close relationships with a diverse microbiome that has substantial influence on their ecology and evolution through immunity development, pathogen resistance, gut physiology and fitness at every stage of the life cycle[1,2,3,4,5]. Despite clear evidence that the microbiome is a major mediator of fitness in tephritid flies[36,40,42,43,44], substantial knowledge gaps remain in the physiological and ecological diversity of the B. tryoni gut microbial community[34,38,39] These knowledge gaps include how B. tryoni larvae acquire their microbial community and the ecological interaction between fruit hosts and B. tryoni larvae in nature. We profiled larval microbial communities by sequencing the 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene from whole insects using Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) This technique is ideal for identifying the majority of cultivable and uncultivable microbes and, along with our sampling of multiple host fruit, enables the most comprehensive survey of B. tryoni microbial communities to date
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