title: Gut-Associated Bacteria of Dendroctonus valens and their Involvement in Verbenone Production.
abstract: Bark beetles are the most important mortality agent in coniferous forests, and pheromones play important roles in their management. Dendroctonus valens LeConte was introduced from North America to China and has killed millions of healthy pines there. Trapping with semiochemicals and pheromones was deployed in D. valens management in the last decade, but little is known about the ability of gut bacteria to produce the pheromone. In this study, we analyzed the volatiles in D. valens guts and frass after antibiotic treatment versus control. Then, we isolated and identified the bacteria in D. valens guts and frass, examined verbenone (a multifunctional pheromone of D. valens) production by 16 gut bacterial isolates from the precursor cis-verbenol at three concentrations, and further compared the cytotoxicities between the cis-verbenol and verbenone to the bacterial isolates. cis-Verbenol was not detected in the frass in the control group, but it was in the antibiotic treatment. The amount of verbenone was significantly suppressed in D. valens guts after antibiotic treatment versus control. Thirteen out of 16 gut bacterial isolates were capable of cis-verbenol to verbenone conversion, and cis-verbenol had stronger cytotoxicities than verbenone to all tested gut bacterial isolates. The bacterial species capable of verbenone production largely exists in D. valens guts and frass, suggesting that gut-associated bacteria may help the bark beetle produce the pheromone verbenone in guts and frass. The bacteria may benefit from the conversion due to the reduced cytotoxicity from the precursor to the beetle pheromone.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1 Beichen West Road, Chaoyang District, 100101, Beijing, China.|University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100049, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Letian
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1 Beichen West Road, Chaoyang District, 100101, Beijing, China.|Technical Center, Hebei Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau, 050051, Shijiazhuang, China.
authors.forename: Qiaozhe
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Lou
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1 Beichen West Road, Chaoyang District, 100101, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Chihang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1 Beichen West Road, Chaoyang District, 100101, Beijing, China. lumin@ioz.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1 Beichen West Road, Chaoyang District, 100101, Beijing, China. sunjh@ioz.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Jianghua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D000081008:Bicyclic Monoterpenes; D002681:China; D001517:Coleoptera / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000382:microbiology*; D005260:Female; D000069196:Gastrointestinal Microbiome / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D039821:Monoterpenes / Q000378:metabolism / Q000633:toxicity; D010572:Pest Control, Biological / Q000379:methods; D010675:Pheromones / Q000096:biosynthesis; D013729:Terpenes / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000633:toxicity
chemical_list: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D000081008:Bicyclic Monoterpenes; D039821:Monoterpenes; D010675:Pheromones; D013729:Terpenes; C052875:verbenone; C009951:verbenol; C534317:myrtenol
keywords: Bark beetle; Gut bacteria; Pheromone production; Verbenone; cis-Verbenol