Gut bacterial communities in the giant land snail Achatina fulica and their modification by sugarcane-based diet.

ABSTRACT: The invasive land snail Achatina fulica is one of the most damaging agricultural pests worldwide representing a potentially serious threat to natural ecosystems and human health. This species is known to carry parasites and harbors a dense and metabolically active microbial community; however, little is known about its diversity and composition. Here, we assessed for the first time the complexity of bacterial communities occurring in the digestive tracts of field-collected snails (FC) by using culture-independent molecular analysis. Crop and intestinal bacteria in FC were then compared to those from groups of snails that were reared in the laboratory (RL) on a sugarcane-based diet. Most of the sequences recovered were novel and related to those reported for herbivorous gut. Changes in the

SUBMITTER: Cardoso AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3305317 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature