Cargando…
Symbiont‐mediated chemical defense in the invasive ladybird Harmonia axyridis
The volatile alkylpyrazines methyl‐ and methoxypyrazines (MPs) present in the reflex bleeds of coccinellid beetles such as the harlequin ladybird beetle Harmonia axyridis are important semiochemicals that function in antipredatory defense behavior. Pyrazines have also been coadapted from a primarily...
Autores principales: | , , , , |
---|---|
Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
John Wiley and Sons Inc.
2019
|
Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6392489/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30847067 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.4840 |
_version_ | 1783398484477476864 |
---|---|
author | Schmidtberg, Henrike Shukla, Shantanu P. Halitschke, Rayko Vogel, Heiko Vilcinskas, Andreas |
author_facet | Schmidtberg, Henrike Shukla, Shantanu P. Halitschke, Rayko Vogel, Heiko Vilcinskas, Andreas |
author_sort | Schmidtberg, Henrike |
collection | PubMed |
description | The volatile alkylpyrazines methyl‐ and methoxypyrazines (MPs) present in the reflex bleeds of coccinellid beetles such as the harlequin ladybird beetle Harmonia axyridis are important semiochemicals that function in antipredatory defense behavior. Pyrazines have also been coadapted from a primarily defensive role into pheromones that function in intraspecific communication, attraction, and aggregation behavior. However, the biosynthesis of MPs in ladybird beetles is poorly understood. Here, we tested the hypothesis that MPs could be produced by microbial symbionts in H. axyridis, which generates four different MPs. The evaluation of tissue‐specific MP production showed that MP concentrations were highest in the gut tissue and hemolymph of the beetles rather than the fat body tissue as the presumed site of MP biosynthesis. Furthermore, manipulation of gut microbiota by antibiotic‐containing diets resulted in a lower MP content in adult beetles. The analysis of the bacterial community of the digestive tract revealed the presence of bacteria of the genera Serratia and Lactococcus which are reportedly able to produce MPs. In line with the known diet‐dependent production of MP in H. axyridis, we determined that the presence or relative abundance of some of the potential MP producers (Enterococcus and Staphylococcus) is also diet‐dependent. We hypothesize a potential role of the microbiota in MP production in H. axyridis as a possible example for outsourcing the synthesis of ecologically important semiochemicals to its gut bacteria. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-6392489 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2019 |
publisher | John Wiley and Sons Inc. |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-63924892019-03-07 Symbiont‐mediated chemical defense in the invasive ladybird Harmonia axyridis Schmidtberg, Henrike Shukla, Shantanu P. Halitschke, Rayko Vogel, Heiko Vilcinskas, Andreas Ecol Evol Original Research The volatile alkylpyrazines methyl‐ and methoxypyrazines (MPs) present in the reflex bleeds of coccinellid beetles such as the harlequin ladybird beetle Harmonia axyridis are important semiochemicals that function in antipredatory defense behavior. Pyrazines have also been coadapted from a primarily defensive role into pheromones that function in intraspecific communication, attraction, and aggregation behavior. However, the biosynthesis of MPs in ladybird beetles is poorly understood. Here, we tested the hypothesis that MPs could be produced by microbial symbionts in H. axyridis, which generates four different MPs. The evaluation of tissue‐specific MP production showed that MP concentrations were highest in the gut tissue and hemolymph of the beetles rather than the fat body tissue as the presumed site of MP biosynthesis. Furthermore, manipulation of gut microbiota by antibiotic‐containing diets resulted in a lower MP content in adult beetles. The analysis of the bacterial community of the digestive tract revealed the presence of bacteria of the genera Serratia and Lactococcus which are reportedly able to produce MPs. In line with the known diet‐dependent production of MP in H. axyridis, we determined that the presence or relative abundance of some of the potential MP producers (Enterococcus and Staphylococcus) is also diet‐dependent. We hypothesize a potential role of the microbiota in MP production in H. axyridis as a possible example for outsourcing the synthesis of ecologically important semiochemicals to its gut bacteria. John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2019-01-25 /pmc/articles/PMC6392489/ /pubmed/30847067 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.4840 Text en © 2019 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
spellingShingle | Original Research Schmidtberg, Henrike Shukla, Shantanu P. Halitschke, Rayko Vogel, Heiko Vilcinskas, Andreas Symbiont‐mediated chemical defense in the invasive ladybird Harmonia axyridis |
title | Symbiont‐mediated chemical defense in the invasive ladybird Harmonia axyridis
|
title_full | Symbiont‐mediated chemical defense in the invasive ladybird Harmonia axyridis
|
title_fullStr | Symbiont‐mediated chemical defense in the invasive ladybird Harmonia axyridis
|
title_full_unstemmed | Symbiont‐mediated chemical defense in the invasive ladybird Harmonia axyridis
|
title_short | Symbiont‐mediated chemical defense in the invasive ladybird Harmonia axyridis
|
title_sort | symbiont‐mediated chemical defense in the invasive ladybird harmonia axyridis |
topic | Original Research |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6392489/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30847067 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.4840 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT schmidtberghenrike symbiontmediatedchemicaldefenseintheinvasiveladybirdharmoniaaxyridis AT shuklashantanup symbiontmediatedchemicaldefenseintheinvasiveladybirdharmoniaaxyridis AT halitschkerayko symbiontmediatedchemicaldefenseintheinvasiveladybirdharmoniaaxyridis AT vogelheiko symbiontmediatedchemicaldefenseintheinvasiveladybirdharmoniaaxyridis AT vilcinskasandreas symbiontmediatedchemicaldefenseintheinvasiveladybirdharmoniaaxyridis |