Asian longhorned beetle gut microbiome
The Asian longhorned beetle (Anoplophora glabripennis) is an invasive, wood-feeding pest that thrives in the heartwood a broad range of over 25 healthy deciduous host trees. Here, the insect faces a number of nutritional challenges, including limited access to nitrogen, vitamins, amino acids, and sterols. Most notably, the biggest challenge faced by this insect as it feeds in the heartwood is the lignin biopolymer, which surrounds and encases trace nutrients and structural carbohydrates that could be assimilated and utilized by the beetle. Despite this, we have conclusively demonstrated that the lignin biopolymer is actively degraded in the gut. We hypothesize that microbes housed in the gut harbor lignin degrading genes.  Fourth instar larvae actively feeding in the heartwood were collected from infested silver maple trees in Worcester, MA. Insects were dissected under sterile conditions and the insect-derived peritrophic matrix was removed to deplete the sample of insect-derived cells. DNA was extracted from the microbes associated with the food bolus.