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<a href = "https://3c1703fe8d.site.internapcdn.net/newman/gfx/news/hires/2018/howbeetlelar.jpg" title = "Nicrophorus vespilloides men and women take care of their little ones. We can see the breeding pair tending to the body of a small rodent that it preserves by covering the carcass of anal secretions containing symbiotic intestinal microorganisms. Credit: Shantanu Shukla, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology ">
The beetle burying Nicrophorus vespilloides buries the cadavers of small animals in the ground for use as a food source for its offspring. However, the carcass and therefore the breeding site are very susceptible to microbial decomposition and putrefaction, resulting in the production of toxic substances, the growth of microbial pathogens and the loss of nutrients. In a new study, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, University of Mainz and University of Giessen, Germany, have shown that Nicrophorus vespilloides beetles are able to replace harmful microorganisms by their own carcass symbionts in a nursery with a microbial community that even promotes larval growth. The study is published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences .
How the burial of beetles prevents the decomposition of carrion
By burying the beetles, resources rich in nutrients, but difficult for reproduction, are exploited: their larvae feed on the corpses of small animals. If they are not monitored by these insects, the carcasses are usually recovered by microbial decomposers. The decomposition of carrion under natural conditions is associated with the growth of microbial pathogens and competitors, the accumulation of toxic metabolites and the rapid loss of nutrients.
A team of scientists discovered that the beetle burying Nicrophorus vespilloides preserves the food source of its offspring by inoculating it with beneficial microbes from its own intestines. The researchers genetically characterized bacterial and fungal carcass communities with or without guard and compared microbial metabolic activity. They also quantified putrescine and cadaverine, the nauseating organic compounds associated with the rot of carrion and amino acids. "The use of carcasses did not involve the removal of microbes, but the replacement of the native microbial community by the intestinal microbes of beetles, for example, the strained carcasses showed a suppression of mold associated with soil but The growth of a yeast associated with a beetle.Change in microbial communities has resulted in biochemical changes in carcasses at the beetle, "says Shantanu Shukla's first author of the Max Planck Institute for the" Beetle. " chemical ecology.
Symbiotics of the coleopteran intestine replace competing microbes that would otherwise break down the larval food source and ensure that the larvae grow well. Credit: Shantanu Shukla, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology
The importance of symbionts for larval development
The researchers then wanted to know if these changes were beneficial for insects that invest heavily in defense and carcass preparation. They therefore tested the effect of carrion microbiota on host form by measuring larval performance with and without the microbial symbionts present on the carrion. The negative effects on larval growth are considerable: larvae fed carcasses with a removed matrix are significantly smaller although they have consumed the same amount of carcass tissue.
"Our study shows how insects can alter their habitats by growing their symbionts both in their belly and externally on a breeding resource in order to improve their fitness." The Burrowing Beetle is a fascinating example exploitation by the symbiote of complex resources ", lead author Heiko Vogel summarizes.
The potential of identified yeasts
The identified yeasts will now be studied in more detail, in particular their role in detoxification of putrefactive products and digestion (pre) digestion in favor of beetle larvae. "Since the beetle-transmitted microbiome has prevented the proliferation of potentially harmful and toxigenic bacteria and fungi, it is interesting to take a closer look at potential antimicrobials because they could also be useful for medical applications" says Andreas Vilcinskas, director of antibiotic research at the Fraunhofer Institute involved in molecular biology and applied ecology.
Explore further:
According to a study, the burial of beetles opens the survival plan
More information:
Shantanu P. Shukla et al., "Microbiome-assisted carcass preservation aids larval development in a burrowing beetle" PNAS (2018). www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1812808115
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