Chen Yu, Chen Jun
Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Front Microbiol. 2025 Mar 12;16:1512653. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1512653. eCollection 2025.
Microbial communities play a crucial role in the physiological characteristics, adaptability, and reproductive success of arthropods. However, the patterns and functions of microbial variation across different life stages of mites remain poorly understood. In this study, we used high throughput Illumina sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene to investigate the composition and functional potential of bacterial communities in five life stages (larva, protonymph, deutonymph, tritonymph, and adult) of the oribatid mite . We found significant differences in bacterial diversity and community structure across the different life stages despite being fed the same diet. The bacterial diversity was highest at the protonymph stage and lowest at the tritonymph stage. Beta diversity analysis indicated distinct bacterial community compositions among the different life stages. Bacteroidota, Proteobacteria, and Firmicutes dominated the bacterial communities throughout the host's life cycle. Key bacterial genera, such as , and , showed significant differences in abundance across the different life stages. Predicted functional profiles revealed substantial changes in metabolic pathways, which may reflect changes in the nutritional needs of during its developmental process. PICRUSt prediction results also showed that in most KEGG pathways, the larval and adult stages consistently maintain similar relative abundances of bacteria. Different stages such as the deutonymph and adult stages show consistent differences in the "biosynthesis of other secondary metabolites" and "glycan biosynthesis and metabolism" pathways. This study provides new insights into the dynamic changes of bacterial communities within oribatid mites and lays a foundation for further research on the interactions between oribatid mites and microorganisms.
微生物群落对节肢动物的生理特征、适应性和繁殖成功起着至关重要的作用。然而，螨类不同生命阶段微生物变化的模式和功能仍知之甚少。在本研究中，我们使用16S rRNA基因的高通量Illumina测序来研究甲螨五个生命阶段（幼虫、第一若虫、第二若虫、第三若虫和成虫）细菌群落的组成和功能潜力。我们发现，尽管提供相同的食物，但不同生命阶段的细菌多样性和群落结构存在显著差异。细菌多样性在第一若虫阶段最高，在第三若虫阶段最低。β多样性分析表明不同生命阶段的细菌群落组成不同。拟杆菌门、变形菌门和厚壁菌门在宿主的整个生命周期中主导着细菌群落。关键细菌属，如 、 和 ，在不同生命阶段的丰度存在显著差异。预测的功能概况揭示了代谢途径的实质性变化，这可能反映了 在其发育过程中营养需求的变化。PICRUSt预测结果还表明，在大多数KEGG途径中，幼虫和成虫阶段始终保持相似的细菌相对丰度。不同阶段，如第二若虫和成虫阶段，在“其他次生代谢物的生物合成”和“聚糖生物合成与代谢”途径中表现出一致的差异。本研究为甲螨体内细菌群落的动态变化提供了新的见解，并为进一步研究甲螨与微生物之间的相互作用奠定了基础。
