title: Identification of pigmented Serratia marcescens symbiotically associated with Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Olivier (Coleoptera: Curculionidae).
abstract: To characterize red pigment-producing bacteria (RPPB) regularly released during oviposition by red palm weevil (RPW), RPPB were recovered from eggs deposited in apples supplied as substrate for oviposition. The presence of RPPB was also detected from gut, the reproductive apparatus of dissected adult and virgin insects and from pupal cases collected within infested palms. RPPB were also identified all along the tissue of these palms. Analysis of the 16S rDNA, gyrB, rpoB, recA, and groEL sequences assigned RPPB to the species Serratia marcescens. RPPB exhibited an antimicrobial activity assessed by the agar well diffusion method against a number of gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. In this study, we first report the identification of a red pigment-producing S. marcescens as extracellular symbiont of RPW. Route of transmission, detection within different organs, and a wide spread along the infested palm tissue, suggested S. marcescens is present as extracellular symbiont in different developmental stages of the RPW. Additionally, the antimicrobial activity exhibited versus Bacillus spp., Paenibacillus spp., and Lysinibacillus spp., reported as insect pathogens and potential candidates for biocontrol agents, could ascribe for S. marcescens a potential protective role.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Via E. Orobona 4, 70125, Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Scrascia
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Via E. Orobona 4, 70125, Bari, Italy. carlo.pazzani@uniba.it.
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pazzani
authors.affiliation: Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Bari/International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies, Via Ceglie 9, 70010, Valenzano (BA), Italy.
authors.forename: Franco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Valentini
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Via E. Orobona 4, 70125, Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Oliva
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Via E. Orobona 4, 70125, Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Russo
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Via E. Orobona 4, 70125, Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Pietro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: D'Addabbo
authors.affiliation: Department of Soil Sciences, of Plants and Food, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Via G. Amendola, 165/A 70126, Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Porcelli
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001407:Bacillus / Q000187:drug effects*; D061046:Biological Control Agents / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology; D027081:DNA Gyrase / Q000235:genetics; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases / Q000235:genetics; D006360:Heat-Shock Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D010063:Ovum / Q000378:metabolism; D056507:Paenibacillus / Q000187:drug effects*; D010860:Pigments, Biological / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D011938:Rec A Recombinases / Q000235:genetics; D012706:Serratia marcescens / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D013559:Symbiosis; D048889:Weevils / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D061046:Biological Control Agents; D006360:Heat-Shock Proteins; D010860:Pigments, Biological; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D011938:Rec A Recombinases; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases; D027081:DNA Gyrase
keywords: 
  Rhynchophorus ferrugineus
  ; 16S rDNA; Serratia marcescens; antimicrobial activity; bacterial red pigment; housekeeping genes