title: Cultivable gut bacteria provide a pathway for adaptation of Chrysolina herbacea to Mentha aquatica volatiles.
abstract: A chemical cross-talk between plants and insects is required in order to achieve a successful co-adaptation. In response to herbivory, plants produce specific compounds, and feeding insects respond adequately7 to molecules produced by plants. Here we show the role of the gut microbial community of the mint beetle Chrysolina herbacea in the chemical cross-talk with Mentha aquatica (or watermint).
  
  
  
  By using two-dimensional gas chromatography-mass spectrometry we first evaluated the chemical patterns of both M. aquatica leaf and frass volatiles extracted by C. herbacea males and females feeding on plants, and observed marked differences between males and females volatiles. The sex-specific chemical pattern of the frass paralleled with sex-specific distribution of cultivable gut bacteria. Indeed, all isolated gut bacteria from females belonged to either α- or γ-Proteobacteria, whilst those from males were γ-Proteobacteria or Firmicutes. We then demonstrated that five Serratia marcescens strains from females possessed antibacterial activity against bacteria from males belonging to Firmicutes suggesting competition by production of antimicrobial compounds. By in vitro experiments, we lastly showed that the microbial communities from the two sexes were associated to specific metabolic patterns with respect to their ability to biotransform M. aquatica terpenoids, and metabolize them into an array of compounds with possible pheromone activity.
  
  
  
  Our data suggest that cultivable gut bacteria of Chrysolina herbacea males and females influence the volatile blend of herbivory induced Mentha aquatica volatiles in a sex-specific way.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Technologies, University of Salento, via Monteroni 165, 73100, Lecce, Italy.
authors.forename: Graziano
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pizzolante
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienza e Tecnologia del Farmaco, Università di Torino, Via Pietro Giuria n°9, 10125, Torino, Italy.
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cordero
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Technologies, University of Salento, via Monteroni 165, 73100, Lecce, Italy.
authors.forename: Salvatore M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Tredici
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Technologies, University of Salento, via Monteroni 165, 73100, Lecce, Italy.
authors.forename: Davide
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Vergara
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Biologia, Sezione di Igiene, Institute of Biosciences and Bioresources-UOS Portici (IBBR-UOS Portici), CNR, Portici (NA) c/o, 80134, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pontieri
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Biologia, Sezione di Igiene, Institute of Biosciences and Bioresources-UOS Portici (IBBR-UOS Portici), CNR, Portici (NA) c/o, 80134, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Del Giudice
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e Biologia dei Sistemi, Università di Torino, Via Quarello 15/A, 10135, Torino, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Capuzzo
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienza e Tecnologia del Farmaco, Università di Torino, Via Pietro Giuria n°9, 10125, Torino, Italy.
authors.forename: Patrizia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rubiolo
authors.affiliation: Research and Innovation Centre Genomics and Biology of Fruit Crop Department, Fondazione Edmund Mach (FEM), Istituto Agrario San Michele (IASMA), Via Mach 1, 38010, San Michele all'Adige, TN, Italy.
authors.forename: Chidananda N
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Kanchiswamy
authors.affiliation: Department of Natural Sciences, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, 1117 Trigg Hall, Princess Anne, 21853, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Simon A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Zebelo
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienza e Tecnologia del Farmaco, Università di Torino, Via Pietro Giuria n°9, 10125, Torino, Italy.
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bicchi
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e Biologia dei Sistemi, Università di Torino, Via Quarello 15/A, 10135, Torino, Italy. massimo.maffei@unito.it.
authors.forename: Massimo E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Maffei
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Technologies, University of Salento, via Monteroni 165, 73100, Lecce, Italy. pietro.alifano@unisalento.it.
authors.forename: Pietro
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-3768-7275
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Alifano
mesh_terms: D000220:Adaptation, Biological / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria / Q000235:genetics; D001517:Coleoptera / Q000187:drug effects / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D000069196:Gastrointestinal Microbiome / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D060434:Herbivory; D008297:Male; D027541:Mentha / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000502:physiology; D009822:Oils, Volatile / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000494:pharmacology; D010802:Phylogeny; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000737:chemistry; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D009822:Oils, Volatile; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds
keywords: Antimicrobial compounds; Chrysolina herbacea; Gut microbial community; Insect pheromones; Mentha aquatica; Microbial organic volatile compounds; Terpenoids