Spatial and Sexual Divergence of Gut Microbial Communities in Field Cricket Teleogryllus occipitalis (Orthoptera: Gryllidae)

Abstract

Abstract The insect gut is colonized by microbes that confer a myriad of beneficial services to the host, including nutritional support, immune enhancement, and even influence behavior. Insect gut microbes show dynamic changes due to the gut region, sex, and seasonal and geographic influences. Crickets are omnivorous hemimetabolous insects that have sex-specific roles, such as males producing chirping sounds for communication and exhibiting fighting behavior. However, limited information is available on their gut bacterial communities, hampering studies on functional compartmentalization of the gut and sex-specific roles of the gut microbiota in omnivorous insects. Here, we report a metagenomic analysis of the gut microbiota of the field cricket Teleogryllus occipitalis using 16S rRNA V3-V4 amplicon sequencing to identify sex- and compartment-dependent influences on its diversity and function. The structure of the gut microbiota is strongly influenced by gut region rather than sex. In the species richness and diversity analyses, there were large differences among the gut regions, but only minor differences between the sexes. Analysis of relative abundance and predicted functions revealed that nitrogen- and oxygen-dependent metabolism, and amino acid turnover were subjected to functional compartmentalization in the gut. Comparisons between the sexes revealed differences in the gut microbiota, reflecting efficiency in energy use, including glycolytic and carbohydrate metabolism, suggesting a possible involvement in egg production in females. This study provides insights into the compartment-dependent and sex-specific roles of host-gut symbiont interactions in crickets and the industrial production of crickets.