TY - JOUR
T1 - Gut bacterial communities in the ground beetle Carabus convexus
AU - Magura, Tibor
AU - Mizser, Szabolcs
AU - Horvath, Roland
AU - Toth, Maria
AU - Kozma, Ferenc Sandor
AU - Kadas, Janos
AU - Lövei, Gabor L
PY - 2024/8
Y1 - 2024/8
N2 - Biological interactions, including symbiotic ones, have vital roles in ecological and evolutionary processes. Microbial symbionts in the intestinal tracts, known as the gut microbiome, are especially important because they can fundamentally influence the life history, fitness, and competitiveness of their hosts. Studies on the gut-resident microorganisms of wild animals focus mainly on vertebrates, and studies on species-rich invertebrate taxa, such as ground beetles, are sparse. In fact, even among the species-rich genus Carabus, only the gut microbiome of two Asian species was studied, while results on European species are completely missing. Here, we investigated the gut bacterial microbiome of a widespread European Carabus species, targeting the V3 and V4 regions of the 16S ribosomal RNA genes by next-generation high-throughput sequencing. We identified 1138 different operational taxonomic units assigned to 21 bacterial phyla, 90 families, and 197 genera. Members of the carbohydrate-degrading Prevotellaceae family, previously not detected in ground beetles, were the most abundant in the gut microbiome of the carnivorous C. convexus. Presumably, individuals from the studied wild populations also consume plant materials, especially fruits, and these carbohydrate-degrading bacterial symbionts can facilitate both the consumption and the digestion of these supplementary foods.
AB - Biological interactions, including symbiotic ones, have vital roles in ecological and evolutionary processes. Microbial symbionts in the intestinal tracts, known as the gut microbiome, are especially important because they can fundamentally influence the life history, fitness, and competitiveness of their hosts. Studies on the gut-resident microorganisms of wild animals focus mainly on vertebrates, and studies on species-rich invertebrate taxa, such as ground beetles, are sparse. In fact, even among the species-rich genus Carabus, only the gut microbiome of two Asian species was studied, while results on European species are completely missing. Here, we investigated the gut bacterial microbiome of a widespread European Carabus species, targeting the V3 and V4 regions of the 16S ribosomal RNA genes by next-generation high-throughput sequencing. We identified 1138 different operational taxonomic units assigned to 21 bacterial phyla, 90 families, and 197 genera. Members of the carbohydrate-degrading Prevotellaceae family, previously not detected in ground beetles, were the most abundant in the gut microbiome of the carnivorous C. convexus. Presumably, individuals from the studied wild populations also consume plant materials, especially fruits, and these carbohydrate-degrading bacterial symbionts can facilitate both the consumption and the digestion of these supplementary foods.
KW - carabid
KW - digestive tract
KW - intestinal tract
KW - microbiome
KW - microorganisms
KW - mutualism
KW - operational taxonomic units
KW - predators
KW - symbionts
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85202641647&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/insects15080612
DO - 10.3390/insects15080612
M3 - Journal article
SN - 2075-4450
VL - 15
JO - Insects
JF - Insects
IS - 8
M1 - 612
ER -