Effects of symbiotic population impairment on microbiome composition and longevity of Bactrocera dorsalis

In order to understand the role of symbionts for their insect hosts, it is customary to treat them with antibiotics or to sterilize eggs (treatments), resulting in aposymbiotic and axenic insects, respectively. Such axenic insects can then be compared with untreated controls. Fruit flies often bear complex communities which are greatly reduced by such treatments. However, the bacterial community is not completely eliminated. Here, we examine the effect of these procedures on the structure of the remaining bacterial communities in Bactrocera dorsalis (Diptera: Tephritidae) and on the insect longevity. The antibiotics (Norfloxacin and Ceftazedime) were administered to 1-day-old adult flies through sugar meal for 7 days, and eggs were surface sterilized and dechorionated to produce axenic lines. The flies were starved of protein before they were offered full diets or diets containing non-essential amino acids only. Antibiotic and egg disinfection treatments resulted in a significant reduction of the vast majority of gut bacterial populations, especially Proteobacteria, Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes. On the other hand, antibiotic allowed the persistence of Actinobacteria, Cyanobacteria and Acidobacteria populations. In untreated control flies, longevity was extended irrespective of diet quality in comparison to treated flies. Conversely, when gut bacteria were largely reduced (aposymbiotic and axenic flies), longevity was reduced in the non-essential amino acids diet treatment versus slightly improved in the presence of a protein diet. We discuss these results in an ecological–life-history perspective.