AUTHOR=Xue Hui , Zhu Xiangzhen , Wang Li , Zhang Kaixin , Li Dongyang , Ji Jichao , Niu Lin , Wu Changcai , Gao Xueke , Luo Junyu , Cui Jinjie 

TITLE=Gut Bacterial Diversity in Different Life Cycle Stages of Adelphocoris suturalis (Hemiptera: Miridae)

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=12

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2021.670383

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2021.670383

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p>Bacteria and insects have a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship. Bacteria participate in several physiological processes such as reproduction, metabolism, and detoxification of the host. <italic>Adelphocoris suturalis</italic> is considered a pest by the agricultural industry and is now a major pest in cotton, posing a serious threat to agricultural production. As with many insects, various microbes live inside <italic>A. suturalis</italic>. However, the microbial composition and diversity of its life cycle have not been well-studied. To identify the species and community structure of symbiotic bacteria in <italic>A. suturalis</italic>, we used the HiSeq platform to perform high-throughput sequencing of the V3–V4 region in the 16S rRNA of symbiotic bacteria found in <italic>A. suturalis</italic> throughout its life stages. Our results demonstrated that younger nymphs (1st and 2nd instar nymphs) have higher species richness. Proteobacteria (87.06%) and Firmicutes (9.43%) were the dominant phyla of <italic>A. suturalis</italic>. At the genus level, <italic>Erwinia</italic> (28.98%), <italic>Staphylococcus</italic> (5.69%), and <italic>Acinetobacter</italic> (4.54%) were the dominant bacteria. We found that the relative abundance of <italic>Erwinia</italic> was very stable during the whole developmental stage. On the contrary, the relative abundance of <italic>Staphylococcus</italic>, <italic>Acinetobacter</italic>, <italic>Pseudomonas</italic>, and <italic>Corynebacterium</italic> showed significant dynamic changes at different developmental stages. Functional prediction of symbiotic bacteria mainly focuses on metabolic pathways. Our findings document symbiotic bacteria across the life cycle of <italic>A. suturalis</italic>, as well as differences in both the composition and richness in nymph and adult symbiotic bacteria. Our analysis of the bacteria in <italic>A. suturalis</italic> provides important information for the development of novel biological control strategies.</p>