Comparison of bacterial microbiota of the predatory mite Neoseiulus cucumeris (Acari: Phytoseiidae) and its factitious prey Tyrophagus putrescentiae (Acari: Acaridae)

Neoseiulus cucumeris is a predatory mite used for biological control of arthropod pests. Mass-reared predators are fed with factitious prey mites such as Tyrophagus putrescentiae. Although some information on certain endosymbionts of N. cucumeris and T. putrescentiae exists, it is unclear whether both species share bacterial communities. The bacterial communities in populations of predator and prey mites, as well as the occurence of potential acaropathogenic bacteria were analyzed. The comparisons were based on the following groups: (i) N. cucumeris mass-production; (ii) N. cucumeris laboratory population with disease symptoms; (iii) T. putrescentiae pure populations and; (iv) T. putrescentiae from rearing units of N. cucumeris. Only 15% of OTUs were present in all samples from predatory and prey mite populations (core OTUs): the intracellular symbionts Wolbachia, Cardinium, plus other Blattabacterium-like, Solitalea-like, and Bartonella-like symbionts. Environmental bacteria were more abundant in predatory mites, while symbiotic bacteria prevailed in prey mites. Relative numbers of certain bacterial taxa were significantly different between the microbiota of prey mites reared with and without N. cucumeris. No significant differences were found in the bacterial communities of healthy N. cucumeris compared to N. cucumeris showing disease symptoms. We did not identify any confirmed acaropathogenic bacteria among microbiota

Characterisation of the British honey bee metagenome

Numerous microbial symbionts, both commensal and pathogenic, are associated with honey bees. Here, the authors genomically characterize this ‘metagenome’ of the British honey bee, identifying a diversity of commensal microbes as well as known and putative pathogen

Halyomorpha halys in Mediterranean areas: local and landscape predictors, genetic diversity, and potential biological control

The brown marmorated stink bug Halyomorpha halys (Stål) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) is an invasive species currently established in several non-native regions, where it causes severe economic losses for growers. The factors driving H. halys spread are, however, poorly understood. Here, we studied H. halys populations in Apulia region (southern Italy), where the pest is present but not established. We monitored pest occurrence in different habitats selected along a gradient of urban cover in the landscape, and measured the potential biological control by natural enemies. Finally, to identify the potential pathways of entry in the region, we carried out a preliminary genetic characterization of Apulian populations. We found that high proportions of urban habitats in the landscape generally supported a higher occurrence and abundance of H. halys in crop fields, whereas high cover of semi-natural habitats increased parasitism rate. A higher predation rate was observed in crop fields compared to urban areas. The parasitoids Anastatus bifasciatus and Ooencyrtus sp., important control agents in areas where the pest is already established, were the most common species observed. Our findings suggest that the agricultural matrix affects the occurrence and the biological control of H. halys in newly invaded areas, potentially influencing its establishment probability. Finally, the high gentic similarity with the northern Italian populations suggested continuous introduction events, probably from the northern part of the country. Future monitoring programs focused on urban and cultivated areas will be fundamental to track the spread of the pest

Host-specific assemblages typify gut microbial communities of related insect species

Zakee L Sabree12* and Nancy A Moran13 Author Affiliations 1 Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA 2 Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA 3 Section of Integrative Biology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USAMutualisms between microbes and insects are ubiquitous and facilitate exploitation of various trophic niches by host insects. Dictyopterans (mantids, cockroaches and termites) exhibit trophisms that range from omnivory to strict wood-feeding and maintain beneficial symbioses with the obligate endosymbiont, Blattabacterium, and/or diverse gut microbiomes that include cellulolytic and diazotrophic microbes. While Blattabacterium in omnivorous Periplaneta is fully capable of provisioning essential amino acids, in wood-feeding dictyopterans it has lost many genes for their biosynthesis (Mastotermes and Cryptocercus) or is completely absent (Heterotermes). The conspicuous functional degradation and absence of Blattabacterium in most strict wood-feeding dictyopteran insects suggest that alternative means of acquiring nutrients limited in their diet are being employed. A 16S rRNA gene amplicon resequencing approach was used to deeply sample the composition and diversity of gut communities in related dictyopteran insects to explore the possibility of shifts in symbiont allegiances during termite and cockroach evolution. The gut microbiome of Periplaneta, which has a fully functional Blattabacterium, exhibited the greatest within-sample operational taxonomic unit (OTU) diversity and abundance variability than those of Mastotermes and Cryptocercus, whose Blattabacterium have shrunken genomes and reduced nutrient provisioning capabilities. Heterotermes lacks Blattabacterium and a single OTU that was 95% identical to a Bacteroidia-assigned diazotrophic endosymbiont of an anaerobic cellulolytic protist termite gut inhabitant samples consistently dominates its gut microbiome. Many host-specific OTUs were identified in all host genera, some of which had not been previously detected, indicating that deep sampling by pyrotag sequencing has revealed new taxa that remain to be functionally characterized. Further analysis is required to uncover how consistently detected taxa in the cockroach and termite gut microbiomes, as well as the total community, contribute to host diet choice and impact the fate of Blattabacterium in dictyopterans.Integrative [email protected]