Abstract
Chrysoperla sinica (Tjeder) is widely recognized as an important holometabolous natural enemy of various insect pests in different cropping systems and as a non-target surrogate in environmental risk assessment of Bt rice (i.e., genetically modified rice to express a toxin gene from Bacillus thuringiensis). Like other complex organisms, abundant microbes live inside C. sinica; however, to date, microbiome composition and diversity of the whole life cycle in C. sinica has not yet been well characterized. In the current study, we analyze the composition and biodiversity of microbiota across the whole life cycle of C. sinica by using high-throughput Illumina sequencing of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene. Collectively, Proteobacteria and Firmicutes dominated the microenvironment at all stages, but their relative abundances fluctuated by host developmental stage. Interestingly, eggs, neonates, and adults shared similar microbes, including an abundance of Rickettsia and Wolbachia. After larva feeding, Staphylococcus, Enterobacteriaceae, and Serratia were enriched in larvae and pupa, suggesting that food may serve as a major factor contributing to altered microbial community divergence at different developmental stages. Our findings demonstrated that C. sinica harbor a variety of bacteria, and that dynamic changes in community composition and relative abundances of members of its microbiome occur during different life cycle stages. Evaluating the role of these bacterial symbionts in this natural enemy may assist in developing environmental risk assessments and novel biological control strategies.
Highlights
Mutualistic relationships with microbial symbionts have been observed in many insects and are often critical for their survival and development (Kikuchi et al, 2007; Moran et al, 2008; SantosGarcia et al, 2017)
We present a comprehensive examination of the diverse populations of bacteria found in the lacewing C. sinica during its life cycle by using next-generation sequencing
We found that Proteobacteria and Firmicutes were dominant across the entire life cycle, which was similar to observations in other insects (Colman et al, 2012; Yun et al, 2014), such as B. mori (Chen et al, 2018), B. tabaci (Gottlieb et al, 2006), Drosophila melanogaster (Chandler et al, 2011), and Apis mellifera (Engel et al, 2012)
Summary
Mutualistic relationships with microbial symbionts have been observed in many insects and are often critical for their survival and development (Kikuchi et al, 2007; Moran et al, 2008; SantosGarcia et al, 2017). Bacterial symbionts may provide supplemental nutrients, protection from natural enemies, and defense against pathogens and facilitate tolerance of abiotic. Symbionts have been shown to play key roles in insect development but the underlying mechanisms are not well understood (Hammer et al, 2017). Genetic studies have provided evidence of asymmetric gene transfer from bacteria and fungi to Bombyx mori (silkworm), leading to its increased survival, and reproduction (Sun et al, 2013). Understanding the composition and function of bacterial symbionts and consequential effects on their hosts remain a significant challenge
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