Fitness Improvement of Mass-Reared Sterile Males of <I>Ceratitis capitata</I> (Vienna 8 strain) (Diptera: Tephritidae) After Gut Enrichment With Probiotics

Abstract

Successful mass rearing is crucial for sterile insect technique programs. It has been shown that the sterilizing process using gammaradiation results in damage to midgut tissue, cellular organelles, and gut microbiota of flies. This can be responsible for the inferiority of sterile males compared with wild males. A bacteria-enhanced diet could contribute to the improvement of the fly's fitness. We investigated ways of increasing the competitiveness of mass-reared Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) sterile males. We tested the hypothesis that the addition of beneficial bacteria to the larvae's diet would lead to a significant increase in their levels in the gut of the sterile adults and consequently improve their size and fitness. As expected, enriching the diet of mass-rearing Vienna-8 strain larvae with beneficial bacteria (Klebsiella pneumonia, Enterobacter spp., and Citrobacter freundii) resulted in increase in the number of Enterobacteriacae communities inhabiting the male's gut and a subsequent significant increase in the size of males and other morphometric traits and enhanced sexual performance of males at emergence.

Diversity of bacterial communities in the midgut of Bactrocera cucurbitae (Diptera: Tephritidae) populations and their potential use as attractants

“…is the most dominant species in wild flies, which decreased significantly after sterilisation. Further, it has been demonstrated that the competitiveness and fitness of sterile males could be enhanced by supplementing gut bacterial species in the form of probiotic diet . Results of the present study showed that melon‐fly‐associated bacterial endosymbionts exhibit attractant potential towards Bactrocera adults.…”

The effects of geographic origin and antibiotic treatment on the gut symbiotic communities ofBactrocera oleaepopulations

“…In particular, microbes residing in the insect digestive system are directly associated with insect nutrition. Several studies in Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann), the tephritid model for mass rearing and SIT applications, demonstrated that gut symbionts as supplements in the adult or larval diet have positive effects on a variety of life-history traits related to SIT applications (Niyazi et al, 2004;Behar et al, 2008;Ben Ami et al, 2010;Gavriel et al, 2011;Hamden et al, 2013;Augustinos et al, 2015;Kyritsis et al, 2017).…”

The Avoided Target: The Ceratitis capitata Cellular Encapsulation Response

“…Subsequent research addressed this problem by feeding larvae (which would subsequently be irradiated) an anticipatory excess of beneficial gut bacteria. Ecclosed treated adults exhibited mild but significant increases in mean head, thorax, and abdomen lengths, but a greater response to treatment was observed in mating behavior: copulatory activity increased by nearly four fold over that of controls [16]. Another possible solution is ginger root oil: exposure of irradiated males to aromatherapy in the form of ginger root oil vapors resulted in a twofold increase in mating frequency, as well as greater survival time (as indicated by recapture experiments) in the wild [17].…”