Hou Peng, Liu Li, Ma Xin, Men Ying, Yang Ding, Wang Jianfeng, Zhang Chuntian
College of Life Science and Engineering, Shenyang University, Shenyang 110044, China.
College of Plant Protection, China Agricultural University, Beijing 110193, China.
Insects. 2025 Sep 1;16(9):909. doi: 10.3390/insects16090909.
(Lepidoptera: Saturniidae) is an economically important silk-producing insect, whose gut microbiota play a crucial role in growth, development, and nutrient metabolism. This study focused on the entire larval developmental stages of Using the Illumina MiSeq high-throughput sequencing platform, we performed 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing on the gut microbiota of laboratory-reared larvae, analyzing in detail the composition and diversity characteristics of the gut microbial communities across all five instars (1st to 5th instar). Additionally, functional predictions were conducted to explore the potential roles of these microbiota during larvae development. The study revealed that the core gut microbiota of larvae primarily consisted of Actinomycetota (39.78%), Cyanobacteriota (32.46%), Bacillota (18.08%), and Pseudomonadota (9.02%). Among these, Actinomycetota dominated in the 1st to 4th-instar larvae, while Cyanobacteriota became the predominant phylum in the 5th instar. Linear discriminant analysis effect size identified statistically significant biomarkers across different instar larvae of Alpha diversity analysis showed that gut microbiota diversity initially increased and then decreased with larval development, peaking in the 3rd instar, and reaching its lowest level in the 5th instar. Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) of beta diversity indicated that the gut microbiota structures of the 1st to 4th instars were similar but significantly differed from that of the 5th instar. Functional prediction analysis based on the KEGG database revealed that Carbohydrate metabolism and Amino acid metabolism-related genes were significantly lower in the 5th instar compared to other instars, while Energy metabolism and Cofactor and vitamin metabolism-related genes were significantly higher. This study offers valuable insights for the development of gut microbial resources in Lepidoptera insects.
（鳞翅目：大蚕蛾科）是一种具有重要经济价值的产丝昆虫，其肠道微生物群在生长、发育和营养代谢中起着关键作用。本研究聚焦于[昆虫名称]幼虫的整个发育阶段。利用Illumina MiSeq高通量测序平台，我们对实验室饲养的[昆虫名称]幼虫的肠道微生物群进行了16S rRNA基因扩增子测序，详细分析了所有五龄期（第1至5龄）肠道微生物群落的组成和多样性特征。此外，还进行了功能预测，以探索这些微生物群在幼虫发育过程中的潜在作用。研究表明，[昆虫名称]幼虫的核心肠道微生物群主要由放线菌门（39.78%）、蓝细菌门（32.46%）、芽孢杆菌门（18.08%）和假单胞菌门（9.02%）组成。其中，放线菌门在第1至4龄幼虫中占主导地位，而蓝细菌门在第5龄成为优势门类。线性判别分析效应大小确定了[昆虫名称]不同龄期幼虫之间具有统计学意义的生物标志物。α多样性分析表明，肠道微生物群多样性随着幼虫发育先增加后减少，在第3龄达到峰值，在第5龄达到最低水平。β多样性的主坐标分析（PCoA）表明，第1至4龄的肠道微生物群结构相似，但与第5龄显著不同。基于KEGG数据库的功能预测分析表明，与碳水化合物代谢和氨基酸代谢相关的基因在第5龄显著低于其他龄期，而与能量代谢以及辅因子和维生素代谢相关的基因则显著更高。本研究为鳞翅目昆虫肠道微生物资源的开发提供了有价值的见解。
