title: Nitrogen-fixing and uricolytic bacteria associated with the gut of Dendroctonus rhizophagus and Dendroctonus valens (Curculionidae: Scolytinae).
abstract: The bark beetles of the genus Dendroctonus feed on phloem that is a nitrogen-limited source. Nitrogen fixation and nitrogen recycling may compensate or alleviate such a limitation, and beetle-associated bacteria capable of such processes were identified. Raoultella terrigena, a diazotrophic bacteria present in the gut of Dendroctonus rhizophagus and D. valens, exhibited high acetylene reduction activity in vitro with different carbon sources, and its nifH and nifD genes were sequenced. Bacteria able to recycle uric acid were Pseudomonas fluorescens DVL3A that used it as carbon and nitrogen source, Serratia proteomaculans 2A CDF and Rahnella aquatilis 6-DR that used uric acid as sole nitrogen source. Also, this is the first report about the uric acid content in whole eggs, larvae, and adults (male and female) samples of the red turpentine beetle (Dendroctonus valens). Our results suggest that the gut bacteria of these bark beetles could contribute to insect N balance.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Microbiología, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Prol. De Carpio y Plan de Ayala, Col. Sto. Tomas, Mexico, Distrito Federal, 11340, Mexico.
authors.forename: Jesús
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Morales-Jiménez
authors.forename: Arturo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vera-Ponce de León
authors.forename: Aidé
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: García-Domínguez
authors.forename: Esperanza
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Martínez-Romero
authors.forename: Gerardo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zúñiga
authors.forename: César
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hernández-Rodríguez
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D001517:Coleoptera / Q000145:classification / Q000254:growth & development / Q000382:microbiology*; D005260:Female; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000382:microbiology; D007814:Larva / Q000145:classification / Q000254:growth & development / Q000382:microbiology; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000378:metabolism; D009586:Nitrogen Fixation; D009591:Nitrogenase / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D009591:Nitrogenase; D009584:Nitrogen