title: Comparison of bacterial microbiota of the predatory mite Neoseiulus cucumeris (Acari: Phytoseiidae) and its factitious prey Tyrophagus putrescentiae (Acari: Acaridae).
abstract: Neoseiulus cucumeris is a predatory mite used for biological control of arthropod pests. Mass-reared predators are fed with factitious prey mites such as Tyrophagus putrescentiae. Although some information on certain endosymbionts of N. cucumeris and T. putrescentiae exists, it is unclear whether both species share bacterial communities. The bacterial communities in populations of predator and prey mites, as well as the occurence of potential acaropathogenic bacteria were analyzed. The comparisons were based on the following groups: (i) N. cucumeris mass-production; (ii) N. cucumeris laboratory population with disease symptoms; (iii) T. putrescentiae pure populations and; (iv) T. putrescentiae from rearing units of N. cucumeris. Only 15% of OTUs were present in all samples from predatory and prey mite populations (core OTUs): the intracellular symbionts Wolbachia, Cardinium, plus other Blattabacterium-like, Solitalea-like, and Bartonella-like symbionts. Environmental bacteria were more abundant in predatory mites, while symbiotic bacteria prevailed in prey mites. Relative numbers of certain bacterial taxa were significantly different between the microbiota of prey mites reared with and without N. cucumeris. No significant differences were found in the bacterial communities of healthy N. cucumeris compared to N. cucumeris showing disease symptoms. We did not identify any confirmed acaropathogenic bacteria among microbiota.
authors.affiliation: Research & Development Department, Biobest Belgium N. V., Ilse Velden 18, Westerlo, B-2260, Belgium.
authors.forename: Apostolos
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pekas
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, Newe-Ya'ar Research Center, Agricultural Research Organization, Ministry of Agriculture, P.O. Box 1021, Ramat Yishay, IL-30095, Israel.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Palevsky
authors.affiliation: SASA (Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture), 1 Roddinglaw Road, Edinburgh, EH12 9FJ, UK.
authors.forename: Jason C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Sumner
authors.affiliation: Evolutionary Biology Section, School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6AS, UK.
authors.forename: M Alejandra
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Perotti
authors.affiliation: Crop Research Institute, Drnovska 507/73, Prague 6-Ruzyne, CZ-161 06, Czechia, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nesvorna
authors.affiliation: Crop Research Institute, Drnovska 507/73, Prague 6-Ruzyne, CZ-161 06, Czechia, Czech Republic. hubert@vurv.cz.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0740-166X
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hubert
mesh_terms: D000053:Acari / Q000382:microbiology*; D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D056186:Metagenomics; D064307:Microbiota; D013559:Symbiosis