Gut Microbiota Colonization and Transmission in the Burying Beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides throughout Development.

ABSTRACT: Carrion beetles in the genus Nicrophorus rear their offspring on decomposing carcasses where larvae are exposed to a diverse community of decomposer bacteria. Parents coat the carcass with antimicrobial secretions prior to egg hatch (defined as prehatch care) and also feed regurgitated food, and potentially bacteria, to larvae throughout development (defined as full care). Here, we partition the roles of prehatch and posthatch parental care in the transmission and persistence of culturable symbiotic bacteria to larvae. Using three treatment groups (full care, prehatch care only, and no care), we found that larvae receiving full care are predominantly colonized by bacteria resident in the maternal gut while larvae receiving no care are colonized with bacteria from the carcass. More i

SUBMITTER: Wang Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5394326 | biostudies-literature | 2017 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature