Affiliation:
1. State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Ecology, Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen, China
2. College of Forestry, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, China
Abstract
ABSTRACT
In this study, we first time sequenced and analyzed the 16S rRNA gene data of predator ladybird beetles
Novius pumilus
and globally distributed invasive pest
Icerya aegyptiaca
at different stages, and combined data with bacterial genome sequences in
N. pumilus
to explored the taxonomic distribution, alpha and beta diversity, differentially abundant bacteria, co-occurrence network, and putative functions of their microbial community. Our finding revealed that
Candidatus
Walczuchella, which exhibited a higher abundance in
I. aegyptiaca
, possessed several genes in essential amino acid biosynthesis and seemed to perform roles in providing nutrients to the host, similar to other obligate symbionts in scale insects.
Lactococcus
,
Serratia
, and
Pseudomonas
, more abundant in
N. pumilus
, were predicted to have genes related to hydrocarbon, fatty acids, and chitin degradation, which may assist their hosts in digesting the wax shell covering the scale insects. Notably, our result showed that
Lactococcus
had relatively higher abundances in adults and eggs compared to other stages in
N. pumilus
, indicating potential vertical transmission. Additionally, we found that
Arsenophonus
, known to influence sex ratios in whitefly and wasp, may also function in
I. aegyptiaca
, probably by influencing nutrient metabolism as it similarly had many genes corresponding to vitamin B and essential amino acid biosynthesis. Also, we observed a potential horizontal transfer of
Arsenophonus
between the scale insect and its predator, with a relatively high abundance in the ladybirds compared to other bacteria from the scale insects.
IMPORTANCE
The composition and dynamic changes of microbiome in different developmental stages of ladybird beetles
Novius pumilus
with its prey
Icerya aegyptiaca
were detected. We found that
Candidatus
Walczuchella, abundant in
I. aegyptiaca,
probably provide nutrients to their host based on their amino acid biosynthesis-related genes. Abundant symbionts in
N. pumilus
, including
Lactococcus
,
Serratia
, and
Pseudophonus
, may help the host digest the scale insects with their hydrocarbon, fatty acid, and chitin degrading-related genes. A key endosymbiont
Arsenophonus
may play potential roles in the nutrient metabolisms and sex determination in
I. aegyptiaca
, and is possibly transferred from the scale insect to the predator.
Funder
National Key Research and Development Program of China
National Natural Science Foundation of China
Publisher
American Society for Microbiology
Cited by
1 articles.
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