AUTHOR=Schurkman Jacob , Liu Rui , Alavi Salma , Tandingan De Ley Irma , Hsiao Ansel , Dillman Adler R. 

TITLE=The Native Microbial Community of Gastropod-Associated Phasmarhabditis Species Across Central and Southern California

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2022.903136

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2022.903136

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p>Nematodes in the genus <italic>Phasmarhabditis</italic> can infect and kill slugs and snails, which are important agricultural pests. This useful trait has been commercialized by the corporation BASF after they mass produced a product labeled Nemaslug®. The product contains <italic>Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita</italic>, which has been cultured with <italic>Moraxella osloensis</italic>, a bacterial strain that was originally thought to be responsible for causing mortality in slugs and snails. The exact mechanism leading to death in a <italic>Phasmarhabditis</italic> infected host is unknown but may involve contributions from nematode-associated bacteria. The naturally occurring microbial community of <italic>Phasmarhabditis</italic> is unexplored; the previous <italic>Phasmarhabditis</italic> microbial community studies have focused on laboratory grown or commercially reared nematodes, and in order to obtain a deeper understanding of the parasite and its host interactions, it is crucial to characterize the natural microbial communities associated with this organism in the wild. We sampled <italic>Phasmarhabditis californica</italic>, <italic>Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita</italic>, and <italic>Phasmarhabditis papillosa</italic> directly from their habitats in Central and Southern California nurseries and garden centers and identified their native microbial community <italic>via</italic> 16S amplicon sequencing. We found that the <italic>Phasmarhabditis</italic> microbial community was influenced by species, location, and possibly gastropod host from which the nematode was collected. The predominant bacteria of the <italic>Phasmarhabditis</italic> isolates collected included <italic>Shewanella</italic>, <italic>Clostridium perfringens</italic>, Aeromonadaceae, Pseudomonadaceae, and <italic>Acinetobacter</italic>. <italic>Phasmarhabditis papillosa</italic> isolates exhibited an enrichment with species belonging to Acinetobacter or Pseudomonadaceae. However, further research must be performed to determine if this is due to the location of isolate collection or a species specific microbial community pattern. More work on the natural microbial community of <italic>Phasmarhabditis</italic> is needed to determine the role of bacteria in nematode virulence.</p>