Diversity of the culturable gut bacteria of the wax moth larvae fed with polyethylene plastic

Abstract:

[Background] There are a large number of microorganisms in the intestinal tract of insects, which are necessary for the normal life activities of insects. They promote the synthesis of vitamins, absorption and utilization of fats, carbohydrates and also protect the host against natural enemies, endure high temperature and promote the metabolism of toxins or xenobiotics, and indirectly promote resource development. [Objective] To study the diversity of culturable bacteria isolated from the whole larvae gut of Galleria mellonella. [Methods] A molecular phylogeny of the 16S rRNA gene, the morphology of the colonies and the cells as well as related physiological and biochemical characteristics were used to identify the bacterial species. [Results] A total of 40 culturable bacteria from the intestine of G. mellonella were classified into 16 unique phylotypes. All sequenced bacteria strains were grouped into four families: Bacillaceae, Enterococcaceae, Staphylococcaceae and Moraxellaceae. Among them, Bacillus spp. is the most dominant species of culturable intestinal bacteria. It was determined that the culturable intestinal bacteria included 9 strains of Bacillus, 4 strains of Enterococcus, 2 strains of Staphylococcus, and 1 strain of Acinetobacter. [Conclusion] By studying the composition of bacterial communities that can be cultured from the larvae intestine of G. mellonella, this study provides theoretical basis for the microecology research of the gut of G. mellonella.