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METAGENOMIC ANALYSIS OF GUT BACTERIA FROM THE RED FLOUR BEETLE TRIBOLIUM CASTANEUM

The relevance of symbiotic microbial communities in the gut is increasingly being studied in a large number of animal species, from sponges to primates. Although the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum represents a well-established experimental model organism for studying ecological, evolutionary and developmental topics, to the best of our knowledge, there are no studies on the composition of the gut microbiota of this insect. We examined the bacterial composition of the digestive tract of T. castaneum. For this, two approaches were combined: a culture-independent metagenomic analysis based on 16S rRNA sequences and a classical bacterial cultivation method. The comparison of bacterial 16S rRNA sequences between guts of larval and adult beetles revealed a generally lower diversity of bacterial genera, compared to other insect species. Moreover, the diversity of bacterial genera was higher in guts of adults than in larvae. As expected, cultivation of gut contents on different growth media confirmed only a minor part of the genera found in the metagenomic analysis. The information on bacterial communities in the gut of T. castaneum will be useful for future studies testing interactions between T. castaneum and its microbiota, potential symbionts and pathogens.

gut bacteria, microbiota, metagenome, Tribolium castaneum

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