Bamboo lignocellulose degradation by gut symbiotic microbiota of the bamboo snout beetle .

BACKGROUND

Gut symbiotic microbiota plays a critical role in nutrient supply, digestion, and absorption. The bamboo snout beetle, , a common pest of several bamboo species, exhibits high lignocellulolytic enzyme activity and contains various CAZyme genes. However, to date, no studies have evaluated the role of gut symbiotic microbiota of the snout beetle on bamboo lignocellulose degradation. Therefore, the present study investigated the role of gut symbiotic microbiota of . on bamboo lignocellulose degradation.

RESULTS

Gut symbiotic microbiota of female (CCJ), male (XCJ), and larvae (YCJ) beetles was used to treat bamboo shoot particles (BSPs) in vitro for 6 days. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed significant destruction of the lignocellulose structure after treatment, which was consistent with the degradation efficiencies of CCJ, XCJ, and YCJ for cellulose (21.11%, 17.58% and 18.74%, respectively); hemicellulose (22.22%, 27.18% and 34.20%, respectively); and lignin (19.83%, 24.30% and 32.97%, respectively). Gut symbiotic microbiota of adult and larvae beetles was then identified using 16sRNA sequencing, which revealed that four microbes: , , and , comprise approximately 84% to 94% of the microbiota. Moreover, the genomes of 45 , 72 , 86 and 4 microbes were used to analyse resident CAZyme genes. These results indicated that gut symbiotic microbiota of adult and larvae .  is involved in the lignocellulose degradation traits shown by the host.

CONCLUSIONS

This study shows that the gut symbiotic microbiota of .  participates in bamboo lignocellulose degradation, providing innovative findings for bamboo lignocellulose bioconversion. Furthermore, the results of this study will allow us to further isolate lignocellulose-degrading microbiota for use in bamboo lignocellulose bioconversion.