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Do diet and taxonomy influence insect gut bacterial communities?
D R Colman1, E C Toolson, C D Takacs-Vesbach
1Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001, USA.
Molecular Ecology
|September 18, 2012
Summary
Insect gut bacteria communities are shaped by host diet and taxonomy. Decaying wood eaters have the most diverse gut microbes, while bees and wasps have the least.
Area of Science:
- Microbial Ecology
- Insect Biology
- Evolutionary Biology
Background:
- Insect gut microbial communities are diverse.
- Comparative studies of diverse insect hosts can reveal general patterns of host-microbiota associations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To test if host diet and taxonomy structure intestinal bacterial communities in insects.
- To compare gut bacterial richness across phylogenetically diverse insect species.
Main Methods:
- Utilized published 16S rRNA gene sequence data from 58 insect species.
- Included four additional beetle species from Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge.
- Analyzed gut bacterial species richness and phylogenetic diversity (PD).
Main Results:
- Insect gut bacterial species richness was generally low.
- Decaying wood xylophagous insects exhibited the richest gut flora (102.8 OTUs/sample, 11.8 PD/sample).
- Bees and wasps had the least rich communities (11.0 OTUs/sample, 2.6 PD/sample).
- Both host diet and taxonomy significantly structured insect gut bacterial communities (P < 0.001).
- Host taxonomy was crucial for Hymenoptera and termites.
- Diet was particularly important for insects consuming lignocellulose-derived substances.
Conclusions:
- Host diet and taxonomy are key drivers of insect gut bacterial community structure.
- Findings provide a baseline for future research on insect-microbiota associations.
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