Strict gut symbiont specificity in Coreoidea insects governed by interspecies competition within Caballeronia strains.

ABSTRACT: Host-bacteria symbioses are specific and transgenerationaly stable. In hosts that acquire their symbionts from the environment, selective mechanisms are required to identify beneficial partners among environmental microorganisms. In Coreoidea stinkbugs, which house environmentally acquired symbionts in the midgut, bacterial competition shapes symbiont specificity whereby Caballeronia strains consistently outcompete other bacteria. Here, we show that competition within the gut also occurs among Caballeronia strains themselves, driving specificity at a finer taxonomic scale. The stinkbugs Riptortus pedestris and Coreus marginatus, when reared on the same soil sample, preferentially selected for α- and β-subclade Caballeronia, respectively. In a gnotobiotic infection system, representative st

SUBMITTER: Lextrait G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12632191 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature