Gut Bacterial and Fungal Communities of the Wild and Laboratory-Reared Thitarodes Larvae, Host of the Chinese Medicinal Fungus Ophiocordyceps sinensis on Tibetan Plateau

Abstract

By employing a culture-dependent and -independent 16S rRNA and ITS gene high-throughput sequencing analyses, comprehensive information was obtained on the gut bacterial and fungal communities in the ghost moth larvae of three different geographic locations from high-altitude on Tibet plateau and from low-altitude laboratory. Twenty-six culturable bacterial species belonging to 21 genera and 14 fungal species belonging to 12 genera were identified from six populations by culture-dependent method. Carnobacterium maltaromaticum was the most abundant bacterial species from both the wild and laboratory-reared larvae. The most abundant OTUs in the wild ghost moth populations were Carnobacteriaceae, Enterobacteriaceae for bacteria, and Ascomycota and Basidiomycota for fungi. Larval microbial communities of the wild ghost moth from different geographic locations were not significantly different from each other but significant difference in larval microbial community was detected between the wild and laboratory-reared ghost moth. The larval gut of the wild ghost moth was dominated by the culturable Carnobacterium. However, that of the laboratory-reared ghost moth exhibited significantly abundant Wolbachia, Rhizobium, Serratia, Pseudomonas, and Flavobacterium. Furthermore, the larval gut of the wild ghost moth had a significantly higher abundance of Ophiocordyceps but lower abundance of Candida and Aspergillus than that of the laboratory-reared ghost moth.

Gut bacterial communities and their assembly processing in Cnaphalocrocis medinalis from different geographic sources

“…The relative abundances of anaerobes were significantly different in insects, and the gut bacterial diversity was impacted by host environmental location, food, growth status, and phylogeny ( Yun et al, 2014 ). Liu et al (2021) reported that larval bacterial communities differed between laboratory and wild populations of ghost moths ( Thitarodes sp.). Yu et al (2021) compared the microbiota in Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say), Colorado potato beetles, derived from distinct geographic locations in China, and found that order and genus were proper taxonomic categories to discriminate the geographical locations of Colorado potato beetles.…”

Stage- and Rearing-Dependent Metabolomics Profiling of Ophiocordyceps sinensis and Its Pipeline Products

“…This process maintains a steady nutritional background of O. sinensis fruiting bodies regardless of how they are produced. In our parallel studies, we found that bacterial and fungal communities varied in wild and laboratory Thitarodes lines [48]. Therefore, it is likely that O. sinensis may employ innate metabolism pathways to digest the host/medium and produce the fruiting body.…”

Effects of feeding on different parts of Ailanthus altissima on the intestinal microbiota of Eucryptorrhynchus scrobiculatus and Eucryptorrhynchus brandti (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)

“…A trunk diet might result in reproductive isolation between E. brandti and E. scrobiculatus , as the relative abundance of Wolbachia and gene flow toward the MK-infected island is increased when the relative abundance of Spiroplasma is high ( Engelstadter et al, 2008 ; Yoshida et al, 2019 ). However, some previous studies have shown that the abundance of Wolbachia in the gut is higher in laboratory environments, but the reason for this pattern remains unclear ( Liu et al, 2021 ).…”