Shaping the Microbial Landscape: Parasitoid-Driven Modifications of Bactrocera dorsalis Microbiota

Koinobiont endoparasitoids regulate the physiology of their hosts through altering host immuno-metabolic responses, processes which function in tandem to shape the composition of the microbiota of these hosts. Here, we employed 16S rRNA and ITS amplicon sequencing to investigate whether parasitization by the parasitoid wasps, Diachasmimorpha longicaudata (Ashmaed) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) and Psyttalia cosyrae (Wilkinson) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), induces gut dysbiosis and differentially alter the gut microbial (bacteria and fungi) communities of an important horticultural pest, Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) (Diptera: Tephritidae). We further investigated the composition of bacterial communities of adult D. longicaudata and P. cosyrae to ascertain whether the adult parasitoids and parasitized host larvae share microbial taxa through transmission. We demonstrated that parasitism by D. longicaudata induced significant gut perturbations, resulting in the colonization and increased relative abundance of pathogenic gut bacteria. Some pathogenic bacteria like Stenotrophomonas and Morganella were detected in both the guts of D. longicaudata-parasitized B. dorsalis larvae and adult D. longicaudata wasps, suggesting a horizontal transfer of microbes from the parasitoid to the host. The bacterial community of P. cosyrae adult wasps was dominated by Arsenophonus nasoniae, whereas that of D. longicaudata adults was dominated by Paucibater spp. and Pseudomonas spp. Parasitization by either parasitoid wasp was associated with an overall reduction in fungal diversity and evenness. These findings indicate that unlike P. cosyrae which is avirulent to B. dorsalis, parasitization by D. longicaudata induces shifts in the gut bacteriome of B. dorsalis larvae to a pathobiont-dominated community. This mechanism possibly enhances its virulence against the pest, further supporting its candidacy as an effective biocontrol agent of this frugivorous tephritid fruit fly pest.