Gut bacteria facilitate adaptation to crop rotation in the western corn rootworm.

ABSTRACT: Insects are constantly adapting to human-driven landscape changes; however, the roles of their gut microbiota in these processes remain largely unknown. The western corn rootworm (WCR, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) is a major corn pest that has been controlled via annual rotation between corn (Zea mays) and nonhost soybean (Glycine max) in the United States. This practice selected for a "rotation-resistant" variant (RR-WCR) with reduced ovipositional fidelity to cornfields. When in soybean fields, RR-WCRs also exhibit an elevated tolerance of antiherbivory defenses (i.e., cysteine protease inhibitors) expressed in soybean foliage. Here we show that gut bacterial microbiota is an important factor facilitating this corn specialist's (WCR's) physiological

SUBMITTER: Chu CC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3718123 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature