Variability of Bacterial Communities in the Moth Heliothis virescens Indicates Transient Association with the Host.

ABSTRACT: Microbes associated with insects can confer a wide range of ecologically relevant benefits to their hosts. Since insect-associated bacteria often increase the nutritive value of their hosts' diets, the study of bacterial communities is especially interesting in species that are important agricultural pests. We investigated the composition of bacterial communities in the noctuid moth Heliothis virescens and its variability in relation to developmental stage, diet and population (field and laboratory), using bacterial tag-encoded FLX pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA amplicons. In larvae, bacterial communities differed depending on the food plant on which they had been reared, although the within-group variation between biological replicates was high as well. Moreover, larvae originating from a fie

SUBMITTER: Staudacher H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4854476 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature