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Comparative analysis of microbial diversity in Longitarsus flea beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)

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Abstract

Herbivorous beetles comprise a significant fraction of eukaryotic biodiversity and their plant-feeding adaptations make them notorious agricultural pests. Despite more than a century of research on their ecology and evolution, we know little about the diversity and function of their symbiotic microbial communities. Recent culture-independent molecular studies have shown that insects possess diverse gut microbial communities that appear critical for their survival. In this study, we combined culture-independent methods and high-throughput sequencing strategies to perform a comparative analysis of Longitarsus flea-beetles microbial community diversity (MCD). This genus of beetle herbivores contains host plant specialists and generalists that feed on a diverse array of toxic plants. Using a deep-sequencing approach, we characterized the MCD of eleven Longitarsus species across the genus, several of which represented independent shifts to the same host plant families. Database comparisons found that Longitarsus-associated microbes came from two habitat types: insect guts and the soil rhizosphere. Statistical clustering of the Longitarsus microbial communities found little correlation with the beetle phylogeny, and uncovered discrepancies between bacterial communities extracted directly from beetles and those from frass. A Principal Coordinates Analysis also found some correspondence between beetle MCD and host plant family. Collectively, our data suggest that environmental factors play a dominant role in shaping Longitarsus MCD and that the root-feeding beetle larvae of these insects are inoculated by soil rhizosphere microbes. Future studies will investigate MCD of select Longitarsus species across their geographic ranges and explore the connection between the soil rhizosphere and the beetle MCD.

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Acknowledgments

We wish to thank all the members of the Dobler lab who helped make this study possible, especially K. Meyer, S. Marzez and C. Baden. We thank V. Thackray, the editor B. Normark, and two anonymous reviewers for their many helpful suggestions. This study was funded by a grant from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. Finally, as first author, I would like to extend a very special thank you to Professor Richard G. Harrison. Rick’s lectures on evolutionary biology were wonderful and inspired me during a very difficult period of my undergraduate education at Cornell University. After taking Rick’s class, I knew for certain that I would become an evolutionary biologist. I also thank Rick for taking a chance and hiring me as a research technician in his lab after my difficult stint as an elementary school teacher in Houston, Texas. Once again, this experience with Rick proved to be tremendously inspirational and guided me towards my eventual career as a biology professor. During my time in Rick’s lab I learned molecular biology skills from the world’s best (Steven Bogdanowicz), uncovered my passion for phylogenetics, discovered the joys of working with insects, came to know my future Ph.D. advisor, and met some of the best graduate students and scientists in evolutionary biology. Thus, I credit much of my career success, and indeed happiness, to Rick’s kindness and generosity.

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  1. Department of Biology, San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Drive, San Diego, CA, 92182, USA

    Scott T. Kelley

  2. Institute of Zoology, University of Hamburg, Martin-Luther-King-Platz 3, 20146, Hamburg, Germany

    Susanne Dobler

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Correspondence to Scott T. Kelley.

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Kelley, S.T., Dobler, S. Comparative analysis of microbial diversity in Longitarsus flea beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). Genetica 139, 541–550 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10709-010-9498-0

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