Specific Enriched Acinetobacter in <i>Camellia</i> Weevil Gut Facilitate the Degradation of Tea Saponin: Inferred from Bacterial Genomic and Transcriptomic Analyses
Zikun Li, Suya Huang, Xinghua He, Haijie Ma, Xudong Zhou, Haiping Lin, Shouke Zhang
Abstract
Microorganism is directly exposed to the plant toxin environment and play a crucial third party in herbivores gut. Although previous studies have proved the existence of gut bacteria that help CWs degrade TS, the specific core flora and its function have not been explored. In this study, we investigated the correlation between the larva gut microbiome and plant secondary metabolites. Acinetobacter genus was the target flora related to TS degradation. There were many terpenoids genes in Acinetobacter sp. AS23 genome. Results of transcriptome analysis and biological tests suggested that steroid degradation pathway be the key pathway of AS23 to degrade TS. This study not only provides direct evidence that gut microbes mediate the rapid adaptation of herbivorous insects to phytochemical resistance, but also provides a theoretical basis for further research on the molecular mechanism of intestinal bacteria cooperating with pests to adapt to plant toxins.