Gut microbiome on insect
The sugarcane stem-boring grub, Dorysthenes buqueti, is a severe agricultural pest that causes significant damage to sugarcane crops. This insect can survive long periods of harsh conditions and nutritional deprivation during its larval stage. This project investigates the gut microbiome of D. buqueti larvae using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing to understand how symbiotic microbial communities respond to different nutritional matrices (standard artificial diet, natural sugarcane, and nutrient-loaded diet) and physiological stressors (extended two-year larval development and prolonged starvation). The goal of this study is to uncover the dynamic microbial functions that assist this pest in environmental adaptation and survival, which could provide new insights for developing targeted biological control strategies to protect sugarcane crops.