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Microbial symbioses in the midgut of insects

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Biology of the Insect Midgut

Abstract

Micro-organisms are ubiquitous, and the guts of animals are particularly favoured sites for microbial colonization. Gut symbionts are those micro-organisms which persist for extended periods in the intestinal tract. They may be located in the lumen of the gut, associated with the gut wall or in the animal cells lining the gut. Animal guts also bear ‘transients’, i.e. micro-organisms that gain access with food but are killed (e.g. by digestive enzymes) or pass out with the faeces. Although the distinction between transients and the resident gut symbionts may be blurred in some systems, the difference can be illustrated by the study on Escherichia coli in the gut of, not an insect, but a single human (research scientist) (Caugant et al., 1981). Of the 54 electrophoretic variants of E. coli identified, only two persisted for the full 11 months of the study and the remainder had a maximal residence time of 5 days. These are the resident gut symbionts and the transients, respectively.

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Authors
  1. A. E. Douglas
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  2. C. B. Beard
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biological Sciences, University of Wales, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2UW, UK

    M. J. Lehane

  2. Department of Zoology, University of Aberdeen, AB24 2TZ, Aberdeen, UK

    P. F. Billingsley

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© 1996 Chapman & Hall

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Douglas, A.E., Beard, C.B. (1996). Microbial symbioses in the midgut of insects. In: Lehane, M.J., Billingsley, P.F. (eds) Biology of the Insect Midgut. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-1519-0_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-1519-0_15

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-7179-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-009-1519-0

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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