Article
Symbiotic Microorganisms and Their Different Association Types in Aquatic and Semiaquatic Bugs
Registro en:
MEN, Yu et al. Symbiotic Microorganisms and Their Different Association Types in Aquatic and Semiaquatic Bugs. Microbiology Spectrum, v. 10, n. 6, p. 1 - 19, Nov./Dec. 2022.
2165-0497
10.1128/spectrum.02794-22
Autor
Men, Yu
Yang, Zi Wen
Luo, Jiu-yang
Chen, Ping-ping
Moreira, Felipe Ferraz Figueiredo
Liu, Zhi-hui
Yin, Jia-dong
Xie, Bao-jun
Wang, Yan-hui
Xie, Qiang
Resumen
ABSTRACT True bugs (Hemiptera, suborder Heteroptera) constitute the largest suborder
of nonholometabolous insects and occupy a wide range of habitats various from
terrestrial to semiaquatic to aquatic niches. The transition and occupation of these
diverse habitats impose various challenges to true bugs, including access to oxygen for
the aquatic species and plant defense for the terrestrial phytophagans. Although
numerous studies have demonstrated that microorganisms can provide multiple
benefits to terrestrial host insects, a systematic study with comprehensive higher
taxa sampling that represents aquatic and semiaquatic habitats is still lacking. To
explore the role of symbiotic microorganisms in true bug adaptations, 204 samples
belonging to all seven infraorders of Heteroptera were investigated, representing
approximately 85% of its superfamilies and almost all known habitats. The symbiotic
microbial communities of these insects were analyzed based on the full-length
amplicons of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene and fungal ITS region. Bacterial communities
varied among hosts inhabiting terrestrial, semiaquatic, and aquatic habitats,
while fungal communities were more related to the geographical distribution of
the hosts. Interestingly, co-occurrence networks showed that species inhabiting
similar habitats shared symbiotic microorganism association types. Moreover, functional
prediction analyses showed that the symbiotic bacterial community of
aquatic species displayed richer amino acid and lipid metabolism pathways, while
plant-feeding true bugs benefited more from the symbiont-provided xenobiotics
biodegradation pathway. These results deepened the recognition that symbiotic
microorganisms were likely to help heteropterans occupy diverse ecological habitats
and provided a reference framework for further studies on how microorganisms
affect host insects living in various habitats.
IMPORTANCE Symbiotic bacteria and fungi generally colonize insects and provide various
benefits for hosts. Although numerous studies have investigated symbionts in terrestrial
plant-feeding insects, explorations of symbiotic bacterial and fungal communities
in aquatic and semiaquatic insects are rare. In this study, the symbiotic microorganisms
of 204 aquatic, semiaquatic, and terrestrial true bugs were explored. This comprehensive
taxon sampling covers ;85% of the superfamilies of true bugs and most insect habitats.
Analyses of the diversity of symbionts demonstrated that the symbiotic microbial diversities
of true bugs were mainly affected by host habitats. Co-occurrence networks
showed that true bugs inhabiting similar habitats shared symbiotic microbial association
types. These correlations between symbionts and hosts together with the functions of
bacterial communities indicated that symbiotic microbial communities may help true
bugs adapt to (semi)aquatic habitats.