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Gut-Associated Bacteria Throughout the Life Cycle of the Bark Beetle Dendroctonus rhizophagus Thomas and Bright (Curculionidae: Scolytinae) and Their Cellulolytic Activities

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Abstract

Dendroctonus rhizophagus Thomas and Bright (Curculionidae: Scolytinae) is an endemic economically important insect of the Sierra Madre Occidental in Mexico. This bark beetle has an atypical behavior within the genus because just one beetle couple colonizes and kills seedlings and young trees of 11 pine species. In this work, the bacteria associated with the Dendroctonus rhizophagus gut were analyzed by culture-dependent and culture-independent methods. Analysis of 16S rRNA sequences amplified directly from isolates of gut bacteria suggests that the bacterial community associated with Dendroctonus rhizophagus, like that of other Dendroctonus spp. and Ips pini, is limited in number. Nine bacterial genera of γ-Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria classes were detected in the gut of Dendroctonus rhizophagus. Stenotrophomonas and Rahnella genera were the most frequently found bacteria from Dendroctonus rhizophagus gut throughout their life cycle. Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, Ponticoccus gilvus, and Kocuria marina showed cellulolytic activity in vitro. Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, Rahnella aquatilis, Raoultella terrigena, Ponticoccus gilvus, and Kocuria marina associated with larvae or adults of Dendroctonus rhizophagus could be implicated in nitrogen fixation and cellulose breakdown, important roles associated to insect development and fitness, especially under the particularly difficult life conditions of this beetle.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Félix Aguirre Garrido for the technical assistance with DGGE. This work was supported by grants SIP 20080688, 20090738, 20100430, and 20111068; IPN; and CONAFOR-CONACyT 69539. Jesús Morales-Jiménez would like to thank CONACyT, and PIFI-IPN for the scholarships.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Microbiología, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Prol. De Carpio y Plan de Ayala. Col. Sto. Tomas, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, CP, 11340, Mexico

    Jesús Morales-Jiménez & César Hernández-Rodríguez

  2. Departamento de Zoología, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Prol. De Carpio y Plan de Ayala. Col. Sto. Tomas, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, CP, 11340, Mexico

    Gerardo Zúñiga

  3. Laboratorio de Ecología Molecular, Departamento de Sistemas Biológicos, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana—Xochimilco, 04960, México, Mexico

    Jesús Morales-Jiménez & Hugo C. Ramírez-Saad

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  1. Jesús Morales-Jiménez
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  2. Gerardo Zúñiga
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  3. Hugo C. Ramírez-Saad
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  4. César Hernández-Rodríguez
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Correspondence to César Hernández-Rodríguez.

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Morales-Jiménez, J., Zúñiga, G., Ramírez-Saad, H.C. et al. Gut-Associated Bacteria Throughout the Life Cycle of the Bark Beetle Dendroctonus rhizophagus Thomas and Bright (Curculionidae: Scolytinae) and Their Cellulolytic Activities. Microb Ecol 64, 268–278 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-011-9999-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-011-9999-0

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