Role of symbiotic and non-symbiotic bacteria in carbon dioxide production from hosts infected with Steinernema riobrave

Draft Genome Sequence of a Noncognate Bacterium, Achromobacter sp. Strain Bel, Associated with a Rhabditid Entomopathogenic Nematode

Achromobacter sp. strain Bel is a noncognate bacterium associated with a rhabditid entomopathogenic nematode of the Oscheius genus. Its draft genome sequence is 6.62 Mb with a G+C content of 65.4%. The genome highlights important genes which could play a role in entomopathogenicity.

Death Becomes Them: Bacterial Community Dynamics and Stilbene Antibiotic Production in Cadavers of Galleria mellonella Killed by Heterorhabditis and Photorhabdus spp

Insect larvae killed by entomopathogenic nematodes are thought to contain bacterial communities dominated by a single bacterial genus, that of the nematode's bacterial symbiont. In this study, we used next-generation sequencing to profile bacterial community dynamics in greater wax moth (Galleria mellonella) larvae cadavers killed by Heterorhabditis nematodes and their Photorhabdus symbionts. We found that, although Photorhabdus strains did initially displace an Enterococcus-dominated community present in uninfected G. mellonella insect larvae, the cadaver community was not static. Twelve days postinfection, Photorhabdus shared the cadaver with Stenotrophomonas species. Consistent with this result, Stenotrophomonas strains isolated from infected cadavers were resistant to Photorhabdus-mediated toxicity in solid coculture assays. We isolated and characterized a Photorhabdus-produced antibiotic from G. mellonella cadavers, produced it synthetically, and demonstrated that both the natural and synthetic compounds decreased G. mellonella-associated Enterococcus growth, but not Stenotrophomonas growth, in vitro Finally, we showed that the Stenotrophomonas strains described here negatively affected Photorhabdus growth in vitro Our results add an important dimension to a broader understanding of Heterorhabditis-Photorhabdus biology and also demonstrate that interspecific bacterial competition likely characterizes even a theoretically monoxenic environment, such as a Heterorhabditis-Photorhabdus-parasitized insect cadaver.

IMPORTANCE

Understanding, and eventually manipulating, both human and environmental health depends on a complete accounting of the forces that act on and shape microbial communities. One of these underlying forces is hypothesized to be resource competition. A resource that has received little attention in the general microbiological literature, but likely has ecological and evolutionary importance, is dead/decaying multicellular organisms. Metazoan cadavers, including those of insects, are ephemeral and nutrient-rich environments, where resource competition might shape interspecific macrobiotic and microbiotic interactions. This study is the first to use a next-generation sequencing approach to study the community dynamics of bacteria within a model insect cadaver system: insect larvae parasitized by entomopathogenic nematodes and their bacterial symbionts. By integrating bioinformatic, biochemical, and classic in vitro microbiological approaches, we have provided mechanistic insight into how antibiotic-mediated bacterial interactions may shape community dynamics within insect cadavers.

Molecular characterization and amplified ribosomal DNA restriction analysis of entomopathogenic bacteria associated with Rhabditis (Oscheius) spp

Bacterial strains associated with entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) Rhabditis (Oscheius) spp. were isolated from infected cadavers of Galleria mellonella. The obtained 18 isolates were subdivided into nine phylogenetically different genera based on comparative sequence analysis of their 16S rRNA genes. The isolates were affiliated to three different class namely γ-proteobacteria (Enterobacter, Proteus, Providencia, Pseudomonas, Stenotrophomonas), β-proteobacteria (Alcaligenes) and Bacilli (Bacillus, Enterococcus, Lysinibacillus). It was observed that Gram-positive strains (Bacilli) were more frequently associated with the EPN, whereas Gram-negative isolates were affiliated to six different genera with more genotypic diversity. Subsequently, all bacterial isolates used in this study were analyzed by amplified ribosomal DNA restriction analysis (ARDRA). Eight restriction endonucleases (CfoI, HinfI, RsaI, DdeI, Sau3AI, AluI, HaeIII, and MspI) were examined and a total of 15 different genotypes were obtained, forming two heterogenous main clusters after analysis by un-weighted pair-group method using arithmetic averages.