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Diet Influences the Gut Microbial Diversity and Olfactory Preference of the German Cockroach Blattella germanica

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Abstract

The gut microbiota of insects has been proven to play a role in the host’s nutrition and foraging. The German cockroach, Blattella germanica, is an important vector of various pathogens and causes severe allergic reactions in humans. Food bait is an effective and frequently used method of controlling this omnivorous insect. Thus, understanding the relationships among diet, gut microbiota, and olfactory preferences could be useful for optimizing this management strategy. In this study, B. germanica was exposed to different foods, i.e., high-fat diet, high-protein diet, high-starch diet, and dog food (as control). Then their gut microbial and olfactory responses were investigated. 16S rRNA gene sequencing confirmed that the gut microbiota significantly differed across the four treatments, especially in relation to bacteria associated with the metabolism and digestion of essential components. Behavioral tests and the antenna electrophysiological responses showed that insects had a greater preference for other types of diets compared with their long-term domesticated diet. Moreover, continuously providing a single-type diet could change almost all the OR genes’ expression of B. germanica, especially BgORco, which was significantly repressed compared to control. These results indicate that diet can shape the gut microbiota diversity and drive the olfactory preference of B. germanica. The association between gut microbiota profiles and diets can be utilized in managing B. germanica according to their olfactory preference.

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All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Andongma, Awawing Anjwengwo, and Zhenpei Ye for improvements to the manuscript and Shaofang Fang for breeding and domesticating the insect.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Natural Pesticide and Chemical Biology, Ministry of Education, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, 510642, Guangdong, China

    Jian Zhu, Fei Lin, Jiali Wang, Jiaqi Wei & Hanhong Xu

  2. Zhongshan Lanju Daily Chemical Industrial Co., Ltd, Zhongshan, 528415, Guangdong, China

    Jian Zhu, Yinghua Wu & Guodong Liao

Authors
  1. Jian Zhu
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  2. Yinghua Wu
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  4. Guodong Liao
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  7. Hanhong Xu
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Contributions

HHX conceived and designed the study. JZ conducted the experiments and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. JZ, YHW, and FL analyzed the data. GDL, JLW, and JQW helped in statistical analyses. HHX edited and revised the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Hanhong Xu.

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Zhu, J., Wu, Y., Lin, F. et al. Diet Influences the Gut Microbial Diversity and Olfactory Preference of the German Cockroach Blattella germanica. Curr Microbiol 80, 23 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-022-03123-w

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