Developmental stage-associated microbiota profile of the peach fruit fly, (Diptera: Tephritidae) and their functional prediction using 16S rRNA gene metabarcoding sequencing.

The different developmental stage-associated microbiota of the peach fruit fly, (Diptera: Tephritidae), was characterized using 16S rRNA gene (V3-V4 region) metabarcoding on the Illumina HiSeq platform. Taxonomically, at 97% similarity, there were total 16 bacterial phyla, comprising of 24 classes, 55 orders, 90 families and 134 genera. , and were the most abundant phyla with and being the most abundant classes. The bacterial genus was dominant in the larval and adult stages and in the pupal stage. A total of 2645 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were identified, out of which 151 OTUs (core microbiota) were common among all the developmental stages of . The genus and were dominant among the core microbiota. PICURSt analysis predicted that microbiota associated with may be involved in membrane transport, carbohydrate metabolism, amino acid metabolism, replication and repair processes as well as in cellular processes and signalling. The microbiota that was shared by all the developmental stages of in the present study could be targeted and the foundation for research on microbiota-based management of fruit flies.