Bacterial gut symbionts contribute to seed digestion in an omnivorous beetle.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Obligate bacterial symbionts alter the diets of host animals in numerous ways, but the ecological roles of facultative bacterial residents that colonize insect guts remain unclear. Carabid beetles are a common group of beneficial insects appreciated for their ability to consume insect prey and seeds, but the contributions of microbes to diet diversification in this and similar groups of facultative granivores are largely unknown.

Methodology and principal findings

Using 16S rRNA gene clone libraries and terminal restriction fragment (tRF) length polymorphism analyses of these genes, we examined the bacterial communities within the guts of facultatively granivorous, adult Harpalus pensylvanicus (Carabidae), fed one of five dietary treatments: 1) an untreated Field

SUBMITTER: Lundgren JG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2877093 | biostudies-literature | 2010 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature