AUTHOR=Wang Lixiang , Li Chunchun , Wang Xuan , Wang Gaijin , Shang Suqin , Dou Zhipeng , Luo Youqing 

TITLE=Gut Lignocellulose Activity and Microbiota in Asian Longhorned Beetle and Their Predicted Contribution to Larval Nutrition

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2022.899865

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2022.899865

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p><italic>Anoplophora glabripennis</italic> (Asian longhorned beetle) is a wood-boring pest that can inhabit a wide range of healthy deciduous host trees in native and invaded areas. The gut microbiota plays important roles in the acquisition of nutrients for the growth and development of <italic>A. glabripennis</italic> larvae. Herein, we investigated the larval gut structure and studied the lignocellulose activity and microbial communities of the larval gut following feeding on different host trees. The larval gut was divided into foregut, midgut, and hindgut, of which the midgut is the longest, forming a single loop under itself. Microbial community composition and lignocellulose activity in larval gut extracts were correlated with host tree species. <italic>A. glabripennis</italic> larvae fed on the preferred host (<italic>Populus gansuensis</italic>) had higher lignocellulose activity and microbial diversity than larvae reared on either a secondary host (<italic>Salix babylonica</italic>) or a resistant host (<italic>Populus alba</italic> var. <italic>pyramidalis</italic>). <italic>Wolbachia</italic> was the most dominant bacteria in the gut of larvae fed on <italic>S. babylonica</italic> and <italic>P. alba</italic> var. <italic>pyramidalis</italic>, while <italic>Enterococcus</italic> and <italic>Gibbsiella</italic> were the most dominant in larvae fed on <italic>P. gansuensis</italic>, followed by <italic>Wolbachia</italic>. The lignocellulose-degrading fungus <italic>Fusarium solani</italic> was dominant in the larval gut fed on different host trees. Functional predictions of microbial communities in the larval gut fed on different resistant host trees suggested that they all play a role in degrading lignocellulose, detoxification, and fixing nitrogen, which likely contribute to the ability of these larvae to thrive in a broad range of host tree species.</p>