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The digestive and defensive basis of carcass utilization by the burying beetle and its microbiota

Author

Listed:
  • Heiko Vogel

    (Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology)

  • Shantanu P. Shukla

    (Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology
    Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Research Group Insect Symbiosis)

  • Tobias Engl

    (Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Research Group Insect Symbiosis
    Johannes Gutenberg University)

  • Benjamin Weiss

    (Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Research Group Insect Symbiosis
    Johannes Gutenberg University)

  • Rainer Fischer

    (Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology (IME))

  • Sandra Steiger

    (University of Ulm, Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics)

  • David G. Heckel

    (Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology)

  • Martin Kaltenpoth

    (Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Research Group Insect Symbiosis
    Johannes Gutenberg University)

  • Andreas Vilcinskas

    (Institute for Insect Biotechnology, Justus Liebig University of Giessen)

Abstract

Insects that use ephemeral resources must rapidly digest nutrients and simultaneously protect them from competitors. Here we use burying beetles (Nicrophorus vespilloides), which feed their offspring on vertebrate carrion, to investigate the digestive and defensive basis of carrion utilization. We characterize gene expression and microbiota composition in the gut, anal secretions, and on carcasses used by the beetles. We find a strict functional compartmentalization of the gut involving differential expression of immune effectors (antimicrobial peptides and lysozymes), as well as digestive and detoxifying enzymes. A distinct microbial community composed of Firmicutes, Proteobacteria and a clade of ascomycetous yeasts (genus Yarrowia) is present in larval and adult guts, and is transmitted to the carcass via anal secretions, where the yeasts express extracellular digestive enzymes and produce antimicrobial compounds. Our results provide evidence of potential metabolic cooperation between the host and its microbiota for digestion, detoxification and defence that extends from the beetle’s gut to its nutritional resource.

Suggested Citation

  • Heiko Vogel & Shantanu P. Shukla & Tobias Engl & Benjamin Weiss & Rainer Fischer & Sandra Steiger & David G. Heckel & Martin Kaltenpoth & Andreas Vilcinskas, 2017. "The digestive and defensive basis of carcass utilization by the burying beetle and its microbiota," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 8(1), pages 1-15, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:8:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms15186
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms15186
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    Cited by:

    1. Wenjie Pan & Xuan Wang & Chunhua Ren & Xiao Jiang & Sanqiang Gong & Zhenyu Xie & Nai-Kei Wong & Xiaomin Li & Jiasheng Huang & Dingding Fan & Peng Luo & Yun Yang & Xinyue Ren & Suzhong Yu & Zhou Qin & , 2024. "Sea cucumbers and their symbiotic microbiome have evolved to feed on seabed sediments," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-14, December.

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