Ontogeny, species identity, and environment dominate microbiome dynamics in wild populations of kissing bugs (Triatomina
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RESEARCH
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Ontogeny, species identity, and environment dominate microbiome dynamics in wild populations of kissing bugs (Triatominae) Joel J. Brown1,2†, Sonia M. Rodríguez-Ruano1†, Anbu Poosakkannu1, Giampiero Batani1, Justin O. Schmidt3, Walter Roachell4, Jan Zima Jr1, Václav Hypša1 and Eva Nováková1,5*
Abstract Background: Kissing bugs (Triatominae) are blood-feeding insects best known as the vectors of Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas’ disease. Considering the high epidemiological relevance of these vectors, their biology and bacterial symbiosis remains surprisingly understudied. While previous investigations revealed generally low individual complexity but high among-individual variability of the triatomine microbiomes, any consistent microbiome determinants have not yet been identified across multiple Triatominae species. Methods: To obtain a more comprehensive view of triatomine microbiomes, we investigated the host-microbiome relationship of five Triatoma species sampled from white-throated woodrat (Neotoma albigula) nests in multiple locations across the USA. We applied optimised 16S rRNA gene metabarcoding with a novel 18S rRNA gene blocking primer to a set of 170 T. cruzi-negative individuals across all six instars. Results: Triatomine gut microbiome composition is strongly influenced by three principal factors: ontogeny, species identity, and the environment. The microbiomes are characterised by significant loss in bacterial diversity throughout ontogenetic development. First instars possess the highest bacterial diversity while adult microbiomes are routinely dominated by a single taxon. Primarily, the bacterial genus Dietzia dominates late-stage nymphs and adults of T. rubida, T. protracta, and T. lecticularia but is not present in the phylogenetically more distant T. gerstaeckeri and T. sanguisuga. Species-specific microbiome composition, particularly pronounced in early instars, is further modulated by locality-specific effects. In addition, pathogenic bacteria of the genus Bartonella, acquired from the vertebrate hosts, are an abundant component of Triatoma microbiomes. (Continued on next page)
* Correspondence: [email protected] † Joel J. Brown and Sonia M. Rodríguez-Ruano are co-first authors and contributed equally to this MS. 1 Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic 5 Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic Full list of author information is available at the end of the article © The Author(s). 2020 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons
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