Insect microbial symbionts as a novel source for biotechnology

Xie, Sen; Lan, Yahua; Sun, Chao; Shao, Yongqi

doi:10.1007/s11274-019-2599-8

Cited by 33 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…Recent advances in studying insect–microbe interactions have shown that entomopathogens play an important role in insect pest biocontrol . For example, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) toxins that are widely used in sprays and transgenic crops have proven useful in controlling insect pests . Similarly, bacteria of the Pseudomonas protegens species are capable of invading and killing agriculturally important plant pest insects, such as the cabbage butterfly Pieris brassicae (Lepidoptera: Pieridae), which makes them promising candidates for biocontrol applications .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…67 For example, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) toxins that are widely used in sprays and transgenic crops have proven useful in controlling insect pests. 68 Similarly, bacteria of the Pseudomonas protegens species are capable of invading and killing agriculturally important plant 71 pest insects, such as the cabbage butterfly Pieris brassicae (Lepidoptera: Pieridae), which makes them promising candidates for biocontrol applications. 69 Our detailed description of the gut microbiota of major mulberry pests, including both the community structure and metabolic functions, might also help to develop novel pest biocontrol strategies by harnessing their parasitic microbial symbionts.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Gut microbiota metabolic potential correlates with body size between mulberry‐feeding lepidopteran pest species

Chen

Xie

Zhang

et al. 2019

Pest Management Science

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BACKGROUND Many insect pests rely on microbial symbionts to obtain nutrients or for defence, thereby allowing them to exploit novel food sources and degrade environmental xenobiotics, including pesticides. Although Lepidoptera is one of the most diverse insect taxa and includes important agricultural pests, lepidopteran microbiotas, particularly functional traits, have not been studied widely. Here, we provide a comprehensive characterization of the gut microbiota across multiple mulberry‐feeding lepidopteran species, resolving both community structure and metabolic potential. RESULTS Our results indicate abundant bacteria inside the gut of larval Lepidoptera. However, even though they were fed the same diet, the structures of the bacterial communities differed in four major mulberry pest species, suggesting host‐specific effects on microbial associations. Community‐level metabolic reconstructions further showed that although taxonomic composition varied greatly, carbohydrate and amino acid metabolism and membrane transporter were key functional capabilities of the gut bacteria in all samples, which may play basic roles in the larval gut. In addition, principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) of gut bacterial‐predicted gene ontologies revealed specialized features of the microbiota associated with these mulberry pests, which were divided into two distinct clusters (macrolepidopterans and microlepidopterans). This pattern became even more prominent when further Lepidoptera species were involved. CONCLUSIONS A suite of gut microbiota metabolic functions significantly correlated with larval size; the metabolism of terpenoids and polyketides, xenobiotics biodegradation and metabolism were specifically enriched in large species, while small larvae had enhanced nucleotide metabolism. Our report paves the way for uncovering the correlation between host phenotype and microbial symbiosis in this notorious insect pest group. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gut microbiota metabolic potential correlates with body size between mulberry‐feeding lepidopteran pest species

Chen

Xie

Zhang

et al. 2019

Pest Management Science

Self Cite

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“…As Rateb et al report [66], a total of 46 natural products representing diverse chemical classes have been isolated from Atacama Desert actinobacteria during the past 7 years. Symbiotic associations frequently have evolved in harsh selective environments and there is increasing recognition of them producing a wealth of new chemical space in insect [76] and marine invertebrate [77] mutualisms, for example. The discovery of novel antimicrobial pentacyclic polyketides produced by Streptomyces formicae [78] isolated from a fungus-growing plant-ant illustrates very effectively the benefits of exploring under-investigated ecosystems for the discovery of microorganisms having the capacity to synthesize novel natural products [79].…”

Section: Is Focus On the Extremobiosphere Justified?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Dark, rare and inspirational microbial matter in the extremobiosphere: 16 000 m of bioprospecting campaigns

Bull

Goodfellow

2019

Microbiology

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The rationale of our bioprospecting campaigns is that the extremobiosphere, particularly the deep sea and hyper-arid deserts, harbours undiscovered biodiversity that is likely to express novel chemistry and biocatalysts thereby providing opportunities for therapeutic drug and industrial process development. We have focused on actinobacteria because of their frequent role as keystone species in soil ecosystems and their unrivalled track record as a source of bioactive compounds. Population numbers and diversity of actinobacteria in the extremobiosphere are traditionally considered to be low, although they often comprise the dominant bacterial biota. Recent metagenomic evaluation of 'the uncultured microbial majority' has now revealed enormous taxonomic diversity among 'dark' and 'rare' actinobacteria in samples as diverse as sediments from the depths of the Mariana Trench and soils from the heights of the Central Andes. The application of innovative culture and screening options that emphasize rigorous dereplication at each stage of the analysis, and strain prioritization to identify 'gifted' organisms, have been deployed to detect and characterize bioactive hit compounds and sought-after catalysts from this hitherto untapped resource. The rewards include first-in-a-class chemical entities with novel modes of action, as well as a growing microbial seed bank that represents a potentially enormous source of biotechnological and therapeutic innovation.

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“…Culture-independent approaches, which use the extractable DNA as a proxy for the microorganisms present in a sample, now allow investigators to routinely study > 95% of the diversity in a sample – thus opening up new paths of discovery and insight into how the world’s most numerous and influential cells (and viruses) are shaping the environment ( Blaser et al, 2016 ). The advances have a far-reaching impact on critical research and development areas, including drug discovery, agriculture, environmental sustainability, and ecosystem resilience in the face of anthropogenic forces such as urbanization and climate change ( Nielsen et al, 2012 ; King, 2014 ; Barea, 2015 ; Harvey et al, 2015 ; Jez et al, 2016 ; Brown and Hazen, 2017 ; Krüger et al, 2018 ; van de Guchte et al, 2018 ; Podolsky et al, 2019 ; Xie et al, 2019 ).…”

Section: Advancing Scientific Knowledge Through Microbiome Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microbiomes for All

Muth

Caplan

2020

Front. Microbiol.

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Microbiome research projects are often interdisciplinary, involving fields such as microbiology, genetics, ecology, evolution, bioinformatics, and statistics. These research projects can be an excellent fit for undergraduate courses ranging from introductory biology labs to upper-level capstone courses. Microbiome research projects can attract the interest of students majoring in health and medical sciences, environmental sciences, and agriculture, and there are meaningful ties to real-world issues relating to human health, climate change, and environmental sustainability and resilience in pristine, fragile ecosystems to bustling urban centers. In this review, we will discuss the potential of microbiome research integrated into classes using a number of different modalities. Our experience scaling-up and implementing microbiome projects at a range of institutions across the US has provided us with insight and strategies for what works well and how to diminish common hurdles that are encountered when implementing undergraduate microbiome research projects. We will discuss how course-based microbiome research can be leveraged to help faculty make advances in their own research and professional development and the resources that are available to support faculty interested in integrating microbiome research into their courses.

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Insect microbial symbionts as a novel source for biotechnology

Cited by 33 publications

References 62 publications

Gut microbiota metabolic potential correlates with body size between mulberry‐feeding lepidopteran pest species

Gut microbiota metabolic potential correlates with body size between mulberry‐feeding lepidopteran pest species

Dark, rare and inspirational microbial matter in the extremobiosphere: 16 000 m of bioprospecting campaigns

Microbiomes for All

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