The Effect of Pine Wood Nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus (Steiner and Buhrer) Nickle on Intestinal Bacterial Community of Insect Vector Monochamus saltuarius (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae)

Abstract

Pine wilt disease (PWD) has caused extensive mortality in pine forests worldwide. The longicorn beetle Monochamus saltuarius, as the vector of the invasive species Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, plays an important role in the infection cycle. Although the gut microbiota and its contribution to health and disease have been extensively documented, it is unclear whether B. xylophilus affects the longicorn gut microbiota because of a lack of understanding of potential temporal changes in the microbial composition of the vector beetles. In this study, we collected beetles at the emergence and mating stages, and divided them into two groups according to whether they carried nematodes. Based on 16S rDNA sequence analysis, 174 bacterial species were identified that belonged to 112 genera, 53 families, and 8 phyla. Bursaphelenchus xylophilus increased the microflora abundance and diversity of the infected M. saltuarius. In addition, Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes were more abundant in infected M. saltuarius at the same developmental stage. Some of the bacteria in these two phyla were the key species in the co-occurrence network of intestinal flora and represented a unique module in the co-occurrence network of infected M. saltuarius. We found some high abundance colonies in the intestinal tract of infected M. saltuarius during the emergence period that were mostly related to metabolism. Compared with the emergence period, there were more similar microorganisms in the intestinal tract of M. saltuarius during the mating period. With the change in growth environment and continuous feeding, the intestinal microorganisms gradually stabilized and became single species.