Department of Entomology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, D-07745 Jena, Germany.
Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Research Group Insect Symbiosis, D-07745 Jena, Germany.
Nat Commun. 2017 May 9;8:15186. doi: 10.1038/ncomms15186.
Insects that use ephemeral resources must rapidly digest nutrients and simultaneously protect them from competitors. Here we use burying beetles (Nicrophorus vespilloides), which feed their offspring on vertebrate carrion, to investigate the digestive and defensive basis of carrion utilization. We characterize gene expression and microbiota composition in the gut, anal secretions, and on carcasses used by the beetles. We find a strict functional compartmentalization of the gut involving differential expression of immune effectors (antimicrobial peptides and lysozymes), as well as digestive and detoxifying enzymes. A distinct microbial community composed of Firmicutes, Proteobacteria and a clade of ascomycetous yeasts (genus Yarrowia) is present in larval and adult guts, and is transmitted to the carcass via anal secretions, where the yeasts express extracellular digestive enzymes and produce antimicrobial compounds. Our results provide evidence of potential metabolic cooperation between the host and its microbiota for digestion, detoxification and defence that extends from the beetle's gut to its nutritional resource.
昆虫必须迅速消化营养物质，同时防止它们被竞争者抢夺。在这里，我们使用埋葬甲（Nicrophorus vespilloides），它们以脊椎动物腐肉为食来喂养后代，研究腐肉利用的消化和防御基础。我们描述了埋葬甲在肠道、肛门分泌物和使用的腐肉中基因表达和微生物群落的组成。我们发现肠道的严格功能分隔，涉及免疫效应物（抗菌肽和溶菌酶）的差异表达，以及消化和解毒酶。在幼虫和成虫的肠道中存在由厚壁菌门、变形菌门和一个子囊菌酵母属（酵母属）组成的独特微生物群落，并通过肛门分泌物传递到腐肉上，酵母在那里表达细胞外消化酶并产生抗菌化合物。我们的研究结果提供了证据，证明宿主与其微生物群之间存在潜在的代谢合作，用于消化、解毒和防御，这种合作从甲虫的肠道延伸到其营养资源。
