Antagonistic effects of endophytic fungi from pedicels on yeasts: implications for antimicrobial mechanism of nectar.

Endophytic fungi are extensive in plant tissues and involved in the defense against stress from harmful microbes. The interaction between pedicel endophytic fungi and nectar yeasts is critical for maintaining nectar homeostasis. This study used as the research subject.

Endophytic bacteria in pedicels: isolation, screening and analysis of antagonistic activity against nectar yeasts.

, an ancient plant species endemic to Yunnan Province, China, remains underexplored in terms of its endophytic bacterial communities. The plant tissue pedicel serves as the connection between the flower and the stem, not only delivers nutrients but also transmits metabolic substances from endophytic bacteria to the nectar during long-term microbial colonization and probably improves the antagonistic activity of nectar against yeast. Hence, 138 isolates of endophytic bacteria have been isolated in this study from the pedicels of 12- and 60-year-old .

The humoral immune response of the lepidopteran model insect, silkworm L., to microbial pathogens.

Insects are valuable models for studying innate immunity and its role in combating infections. The silkworm L., a well-studied insect model, is susceptible to a range of pathogens, including bacteria, fungi, viruses, and microsporidia.

Fitness effects of synthetic and natural diet preservatives on the edible insect Bombyx mori.

Silkworm pupae as widely consumed insect products are good biosources of protein and micronutrients. Silkworm rearing throughout the year can be achieved by feeding them an artificial diet instead of native plants, facilitating extensive pupa production. However, artificial diets are prone to spoilage caused by bacterial contamination.

Primer selection impacts the evaluation of microecological patterns in environmental microbiomes.

This study revealed that primer selection substantially influences the taxonomic and predicted functional composition and the characterization of microecological patterns, which was not alleviated by close-reference clustering. Biases were relatively consistent across different habitats in community profiling but not in microecological patterns. These primer biases could be attributed to multiple aspects, including taxa specificity, regional hypervariability, and amplification efficiency.

Assessing the quality and eco-beneficial microbes in the use of silkworm excrement compost.

Sericulture has become widespread globally, and the utilization of artificial diets produces a substantial quantity of silkworm excrement. Although silkworm excrement can be composted for environmentally friendly disposal, the potential utility of the resulting compost remains underexplored. The aim of this study was to assess the quality of this unique compost and screen for eco-beneficial microbes, providing a new perspective on microbial research in waste management, especially in sustainable agriculture.

Insect Insights at the Single-Cell Level: Technologies and Applications.

Single-cell techniques are a promising way to unravel the complexity and heterogeneity of transcripts at the cellular level and to reveal the composition of different cell types and functions in a tissue or organ. In recent years, advances in single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) have further changed our view of biological systems. The application of scRNA-seq in insects enables the comprehensive characterization of both common and rare cell types and cell states, the discovery of new cell types, and revealing how cell types relate to each other.

Multiomics analysis reveals the molecular basis for increased body weight in silkworms (Bombyx mori) exposed to environmental concentrations of polystyrene micro- and nanoplastics.

Introduction: Micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) are emerging environmental pollutants that have raised serious concerns about their potential impact on ecosystem and organism health. Despite increasing efforts to investigate the impacts of micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) on biota little is known about their potential impacts on terrestrial organisms, especially insects, at environmental concentrations.

Objectives: To address this gap, we used an insect model, silkworm Bombyx mori to examine the potential long-term impacts of different sizes of polystyrene (PS) MNPs at environmentally realistic concentrations (0.

Toward an Integrated Understanding of the Lepidoptera Microbiome.

Research over the past 30 years has led to a widespread acceptance that insects establish widespread and diverse associations with microorganisms. More recently, microbiome research has been accelerating in lepidopteran systems, leading to a greater understanding of both endosymbiont and gut microorganisms and how they contribute to integral aspects of the host. Lepidoptera are associated with a robust assemblage of microorganisms, some of which may be stable and routinely detected in larval and adult hosts, while others are ephemeral and transient.

Identification and subcellular localization of NbIAP in the microsporidian Nosema bombycis.

Many organisms go through a process of programmed cell death called apoptosis while newer cells are created. This has the effect of protecting the organism from cellular parasites and is a major line of defense against invading organisms. Apoptosis inhibitors, then, play an important role in aiding infectious agents by inhibiting caspase protease and thus the apoptopic pathway.

Features and Colonization Strategies of in the Gut of .

The complex gut microbiome is a malleable microbial community that can undergo remodeling in response to many factors, including the gut environment and microbial properties. has emerged as one of the predominant gut commensal bacterial and plays a fundamental role in the host physiology and health of the major economic agricultural insect, Although extensive research on gut structure and microbiome diversity has been carried out, how these microbial consortia are established in multifarious niches within the gut has not been well characterized to date. Here, an species that was stably associated with its host, the model organism , was identified in the larval gut.

Diversity and Functional Roles of the Gut Microbiota in Lepidopteran Insects.

Lepidopteran insects are one of the most widespread and speciose lineages on Earth, with many common pests and beneficial insect species. The evolutionary success of their diversification depends on the essential functions of gut microorganisms. This diverse gut microbiota of lepidopteran insects provides benefits in nutrition and reproductive regulation and plays an important role in the defence against pathogens, enhancing host immune homeostasis.

Probiotic potentials of the silkworm gut symbiont Enterococcus casseliflavus ECB140, a promising L-tryptophan producer living inside the host.

Aims: L-tryptophan is an essential aromatic amino acid for the growth and development of animals. Studies about enteric L-tryptophan-producing bacteria are scarce. In this report, we characterized the probiotic potential of Enterococcus casseliflavus ECB140, focusing on its L-tryptophan production abilities.

CRISPR/Cas9-Mediated Genome Editing for , a Novel Species with Clinical, Animal, and Plant-Associated Isolates.

As one of the most widespread groups of Gram-negative bacteria, bacteria are prevalent in almost all natural environments, where they have developed intimate associations with plants and animals. is a novel species of with clinical, animal, and plant-associated isolates, closely related to human and animal health, plant growth, and bioremediation. Although genetic manipulations have been proven as powerful tools for understanding bacterial biological and biochemical characteristics and the evolutionary origins, native isolates are often difficult to genetically manipulate, thereby making it a time-consuming and laborious endeavor.

The gut commensal bacterium Enterococcus faecalis LX10 contributes to defending against Nosema bombycis infection in Bombyx mori.

Background: Microsporidia, a group of obligate intracellular fungal-related parasites, have been used as efficient biocontrol agents for agriculture and forestry pests due to their host specificity and transovarial transmission. They mainly infect insect pests through the intestinal tract, but the interactions between microsporidia and the gut microbiota of the host have not been well demonstrated.

Results: Based on the microsporidia-Bombyx mori model, we report that the susceptibility of silkworms to exposure to the microsporidium Nosema bombycis was both dose and time dependent.

Enterococcal symbionts of caterpillars facilitate the utilization of a suboptimal diet.

Bacterial gut symbionts of insect herbivores can impact their host through different mechanisms. However, in most lepidopteran systems we lack experimental examples to explain how specific members of the gut bacterial community influence their host. We used fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) as a model system to address this objective.

Dietary exposure of copper and zinc oxides nanoparticles affect the fitness, enzyme activity, and microbial community of the model insect, silkworm Bombyx mori.

Copper and Zinc oxides nanoparticles (CuO and ZnO NPs, respectively) are among the most produced and commonly used engineered nanomaterials. They can be released into the environment, thereby causing health concerns and risks to biodiversity that indicate a need to evaluate their toxicological effects in a complex situation. Here, we used the insect model organism silkworm Bombyx mori to address the concerns about the biological effects associated with dietary exposure of CuO and ZnO NPs.

From surviving to thriving, the assembly processes of microbial communities in stone biodeterioration: A case study of the West Lake UNESCO World Heritage area in China.

Serious concerns regarding stone biodeterioration have been raised due to the loss of aesthetic value and hidden dangers in stone cultural heritages and buildings. Stone biodeterioration involves a complex ecological interplay among organisms, however, the ecological mechanisms (deterministic or stochastic processes) that determine the microbial community on stone remain poorly understood. Here, using both amplicon and shotgun metagenomic sequencing approaches, we comprehensively investigated the biodiversity, assembly, and function of communities (including prokaryotes, fungi, microfauna, and plants) on various types of deteriorating limestone across different habitats in Feilaifeng.

Contribution of sample processing to gut microbiome analysis in the model Lepidoptera, silkworm .

Microbes that live inside insects play various roles in host biology, ranging from nutrient supplementation to host defense. Although Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) are one of the most diverse insect taxa and important in natural ecosystems, their microbiotas are little-studied, and to understand their structure and function, it is necessary to identify potential factors that affect microbiome analysis. Using a model organism, the silkworm , we investigated the effects of different sample types (whole gut, gut content, gut tissue, starvation, or frass) and metagenomic DNA extraction methodologies (small-scale versus large-scale) on the composition and diversity of the caterpillar gut microbial communities.

CCTδ colocalizes with actin and β-tubulin: Insight into its involvement in the cytoskeleton formation of the intracellular parasite Nosema bombycis.

The chaperonin-containing t-complex polypeptide 1 (CCT) is a molecular chaperone protein that is widely present in eukaryotic cytoplasm and can assist in the folding of newly synthesized proteins. The CCT complex consists of eight completely different subunits, among which the δ subunit plays an extremely important role in the folding and assembly of cytoskeleton proteins as an individual or complex with other subunits. In this study, we identified the CCTδ in the microsporidian Nosema bombycis (NbCCTδ) for the first time.

Toxic effects of acute exposure to polystyrene microplastics and nanoplastics on the model insect, silkworm Bombyx mori.

Microplastics and nanoplastics (MPs and NPs, respectively) are major contaminants of environmental concern due to their potentially detrimental effects on aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. However, little is known about their potential toxicity in terrestrial organisms. Here, we used the model insect silkworm (Bombyx mori) to evaluate the potential hazardous effects of acute exposure (72 h) to polystyrene (PS) MPs and NPs at physiological, molecular, and biochemical levels as well as their impact on pathogen infection.

Identification and localization of Nup170 in the microsporidian Nosema bombycis.

As one of the core framework proteins of nuclear pore complex (NPC), nucleoporin Nupl70 acts as a structural adapter between the nucleolus and nuclear pore membrane and maintains the stability of NPC structure through interaction with other proteins. In this study, we identified a Nup170 protein in the microsporidian Nosema bombycis for the first time and named it as NbNup170. Secondary structure prediction showed that the NbNup170 contains α-helices and random coils.

First Report on Loew (Diptera: Phoridae) Infestation of the Invasive Pest Smith (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in China.

The invasive pest first emerged in China in January 2019 and has, to date, migrated to 29 provinces and municipalities in China, causing heavy crop damage in large areas. As a response to this invasive species from the environment, some indigenous natural enemies have been discovered and reported after invasion. In this paper, parasitic flies were collected and identified from collected in the Yunnan, Guangxi, and Henan provinces and the Chongqing municipality in China.