title: Towards an integrated understanding of gut microbiota using insects as model systems.
abstract: Metazoans form symbioses with microorganisms that synthesize essential nutritional compounds and increase their efficiency to digest and absorb nutrients. Despite the growing awareness that microbes within the gut play key roles in metabolism, health and development of metazoans, symbiotic relationships within the gut are far from fully understood. Insects, which generally harbor a lower microbial diversity than vertebrates, have recently emerged as potential model systems to study these interactions. In this review, we give a brief overview of the characteristics of the gut microbiota in insects in terms of low diversity but high variability at intra- and interspecific levels and we investigate some of the ecological and methodological factors that might explain such variability. We then emphasize how studies integrating an array of techniques and disciplines have the potential to provide new understanding of the biology of this micro eco-system.
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia; Plant Functional Biology and Climate Change Cluster, University of Technology Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia.
authors.forename: Mathieu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pernice
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia; The Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
authors.forename: Stephen J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Simpson
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia; The Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia. Electronic address: fleur.ponton@sydney.edu.au.
authors.forename: Fleur
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ponton
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000382:microbiology; D007313:Insecta / Q000382:microbiology*; D059013:Microbial Consortia; D013559:Symbiosis
keywords: Gut microbiota; Insects; Nutrition