Many animals are inhabited by microbial symbionts that influence their hosts' development, physiology, ecological interactions, and evolutionary diversification. However, firm evidence for the existence functional importance of resident microbiomes in larval Lepidoptera (caterpillars) is lacking, despite fact these insects enormously diverse, major agricultural pests, dominant herbivores many ecosystems. Using 16S rRNA gene sequencing quantitative PCR, we characterized gut wild leaf-feeding...

Animals are distinguished by having guts—organs that must extract nutrients from food yet also bar invasion pathogens. Most guts colonized nonpathogenic microorganisms, but the functions of these microbes, or even reasons why they occur in gut, vary widely among animals. Sometimes microorganisms have codiversified with hosts; sometimes live mostly elsewhere environment. Either way, gut often benefit hosts. Benefits may reflect evolutionary addiction, whereby hosts incorporate into normal...

Butterflies are charismatic insects that have long been a focus of biological research. They also habitats for microorganisms, yet these microbial symbionts little-studied, despite their likely importance to butterfly ecology and evolution. In particular, the diversity composition communities inhabiting adult butterflies remain uncharacterized, it is unknown how larval (caterpillar) microbiota compare. To address knowledge gaps, we used Illumina sequencing 16S rRNA genes from internal...

Research on insect microbiota has greatly expanded over the past decade, along with a growing appreciation of microbial contributions to ecology and evolution. Many these studies use DNA sequencing characterize diversity composition insect-associated communities. The choice strategies used for specimen collection, storage, handling could introduce biases in molecular assessments microbiota, but such potential influences have not been systematically evaluated. Likewise, although it is common...

Much of the morbidity and mortality associated with influenza virus respiratory infection is due to bacterial coinfection pathogens that colonize upper tract such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) Streptococcus pneumoniae. A major component immune response production type I III interferons. Here we show causes an increase restructuring microbiota in wild-type (WT) mice but not Il28r(-/-) mutant lacking receptor for interferon. Mice IL-28 fail induce STAT1 phosphorylation...

Antibiotics are routinely used to improve livestock health and growth. However, this practice may have unintended environmental impacts mediated by interactions among the wide range of micro- macroorganisms found in agroecosystems. For example, antibiotics alter microbial emissions greenhouse gases affecting gut microbiota. Furthermore, affect microbiota non-target animals that rely on dung, such as dung beetles, ecosystem services they provide. To examine these interactions, we treated...

Abstract The relationship between animals and their gut flora is simultaneously one of the most common complex symbioses on Earth. Despite its ubiquity, our understanding this invisible but often critical still in infancy. We employed adult Neotropical butterflies as a study system to ask three questions: First, how does microbial community composition vary across host individuals, species dietary guilds? Second, do microbiota compare food communities? Finally, are functionally adapted...

Abstract How a host's microbiome changes over its lifespan can influence development and ageing. As these temporal patterns have only been described in detail for handful of hosts, an important next step is to compare succession more broadly investigate why it varies. Here we characterize the dynamics stability bumble bee worker gut microbiome. Bumble bees simple host‐specific microbiomes, their microbial may health pollination services. We used 16S rRNA gene sequencing, quantitative PCR...

Responses to climate change are particularly complicated in species that engage symbioses, as the niche of one partner may be modified by other. We explored thermal traits gut symbionts honeybees and bumblebees, which vulnerable rising temperatures. In vitro assays symbiont strains isolated from 16 host revealed variation niches. Strains bumblebees tended less heat-tolerant than those honeybees, possibly due maintaining cooler nests or inhabiting climates. Overall, however, bee grew at...

Social bees are an important model for the ecology and evolution of gut microbiomes. These harbor ancient, specific, beneficial microbiomes crucial pollinators. However, most research has concentrated on managed honeybees bumblebees in temperate zone. Here we used 16S rRNA gene sequencing to characterize wild neotropical bumblebee communities from Colombia. We also analyzed drivers microbiome structure across our data previously published bumblebees. Our results show that lineages not only...

Microbes shape the health of bumblebees, an important group pollinators, including species conservation concern. Most microbial research on bumblebees has focused eukaryotic and viral pathogens or core gut microbiome, a community host-specialized bacterial symbionts that helps protect hosts against pathogens. Bumblebees also harbour third class microbes: non-core bacteria, which are non-host specific vary among individuals. Understanding their functional role how they interact with is for...

Many insects host microbiomes with important ecological functions. However, the prevalence of this phenomenon is unclear because in many insect taxa, have been studied only part life cycle, if at all. A prominent example butterflies and moths, which composition functional role adult-stage are largely unknown. We comprehensively characterized adult passion-vine butterflies. Butterfly-associated bacterial communities generally abundant guts, consistent within populations, composed taxa widely...

Pathogens and parasites of solitary bees have been studied for decades, but the microbiome as a whole is poorly understood most taxa. Comparative analyses features such composition, abundance, specificity, can shed light on bee ecology evolution host–microbe interactions. Here we study microbiomes ground-nesting cellophane (Colletidae: Diphaglossinae). From microbial point view, diphaglossine genus Ptiloglossa particularly remarkable: their larval provisions are liquid smell consistently...

Abstract Many animals are inhabited by microbial symbionts that influence their hosts’ development, physiology, ecological interactions, and evolutionary diversification. However, firm evidence for the existence functional importance of resident microbiomes in larval Lepidoptera (caterpillars) is lacking, despite fact these insects enormously diverse, major agricultural pests, dominant herbivores many ecosystems. Using 16S rRNA gene sequencing quantitative PCR, we characterized gut wild...

Honeybee foragers are exposed to thermal stimuli when collecting food outside and receiving rewards inside the nest. In both contexts, there is an opportunity for associate warmth with rewards. However, honeybee learning poorly understood. Using associative paradigm (the proboscis extension reflex), we show that honeybees can learn a nectar reward heated stimulus applied antenna mimic natural contact warm flower or nectar-offering forager. Conditioning longer inter-trial intervals (ITI)...

Our planet is changing rapidly, and responding to the ensuing environmental challenges will require an informed citizenry that can understand inherent complexity of ecological systems. However, microorganisms are usually neglected in narratives we use nature. Here, advocate for inclusion microbial ecology across education levels delineate often benefits incorporating microbes into curricula. We provide examples levels, from secondary school (by considering one’s self as a ecosystem), higher...