AUTHOR=Liu Mei , Ding Jinli , Lu Min 

TITLE=Influence of symbiotic bacteria on the susceptibility of Plagiodera versicolora to Beauveria bassiana infection

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=14

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1290925

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2023.1290925

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p>The symbiotic bacterial microbiota of insects has been shown to play essential roles in processes related to physiology, metabolism, and innate immunity. In this study, the symbiotic microbiome of <italic>Plagiodera versicolora</italic> at different developmental stages was analyzed using 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing. The result showed that symbiotic bacteria community in <italic>P. versicolora</italic> was primarily made up of <italic>Actinobacteriota</italic>, <italic>Proteobacteria</italic>, <italic>Firmicutes</italic>, <italic>Bacteroidota</italic>, and <italic>Dependentiae</italic>. The bacterial composition among different age individuals were highly diverse, while 65 core genera were distributed in all samples which recommend core bacterial microbiome. The 8 species core bacteria were isolated from all samples, and all of them were classified as <italic>Pseudomonas</italic> sp. Among them, five species have been proven to promote the vegetable growth of <italic>Beauveria bassiana</italic>. Moreover, the virulence of <italic>B. bassiana</italic> against nonaxenic larvae exceeded <italic>B. bassiana</italic> against axenic larvae, and the introduction of the <italic>Pseudomonas</italic> sp. to axenic larvae augmented the virulence of fungi. Taken together, our study demonstrates that the symbiotic bacteria of <italic>P. versicolora</italic> are highly dissimilar, and <italic>Pseudomonas</italic> sp. core bacteria can promote host infection by entomopathogenic fungus. This result emphasizes the potential for harnessing these findings in the development of effective pest management strategies.</p>