This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Egert, M. Articles by Friedrich, M. W. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Egert, M. Articles by Friedrich, M. W. Agricola Articles by Egert, M. Articles by Friedrich, M. W.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, August 2005, p. 4556-4566, Vol. 71, No. 8
0099-2240/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.71.8.4556-4566.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Structure and Topology of Microbial Communities in the Major Gut Compartments of Melolontha melolontha Larvae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae)

Markus Egert,^1, Ulrich Stingl,^1,2 Lars Dyhrberg Bruun,¹ Bianca Pommerenke,¹ Andreas Brune,^1,2 and Michael W. Friedrich^1*

Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Karl-von-Frisch-Straße, 35043 Marburg, Germany,¹ Fachbereich Biologie, LS Mikrobielle Ökologie, Universität Konstanz, 78457 Konstanz, Germany²

Received 2 August 2004/ Accepted 23 February 2005

Physicochemical gut conditions and the composition and topology of the intestinal microbiota in the major gut compartments of the root-feeding larva of the European cockchafer (Melolontha melolontha) were studied. Axial and radial profiles of pH, O₂, H₂, and redox potential were measured with microsensors. Terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis of bacterial 16S rRNA genes in midgut samples of individual larvae revealed a simple but variable and probably nonspecific community structure. In contrast, the T-RFLP profiles of the hindgut samples were more diverse but highly similar, especially in the wall fraction, indicating the presence of a gut-specific community involved in digestion. While high acetate concentrations in the midgut and hindgut (34 and 15 mM) corroborated the presence of microbial fermentation in both compartments, methanogenesis was confined to the hindgut. Methanobrevibacter spp. were the only methanogens detected and were restricted to this compartment. Bacterial 16S rRNA gene clone libraries of the hindgut were dominated by clones related to the Clostridiales. Clones related to the Actinobacteria, Bacillales, Lactobacillales, and -Proteobacteria were restricted to the lumen, whereas clones related to the ß- and -Proteobacteria were found only on the hindgut wall. Results of PCR-based analyses and fluorescence in situ hybridization of whole cells with group-specific oligonucleotide probes documented that Desulfovibrio-related bacteria comprise 10 to 15% of the bacterial community at the hindgut wall. The restriction of the sulfate-reducer-specific adenosine-5'-phosphosulfate reductase gene apsA to DNA extracts of the hindgut wall in larvae from four other populations in Europe suggested that sulfate reducers generally colonize this habitat.

Present address: Laboratory of Microbiology, Wageningen University, Hesselink van Suchtelenweg 4, 6703 CT Wageningen, The Netherlands.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Pittman, G. W., Brumbley, S. M., Allsopp, P. G., O'Neill, S. L. (2008). Assessment of Gut Bacteria for a Paratransgenic Approach To Control Dermolepida albohirtum Larvae. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 74: 4036-4043 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Leisner, J. J., Larsen, M. H., Jorgensen, R. L., Brondsted, L., Thomsen, L. E., Ingmer, H. (2008). Chitin Hydrolysis by Listeria spp., Including L. monocytogenes. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 74: 3823-3830 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Pittman, G. W., Brumbley, S. M., Allsopp, P. G., O'Neill, S. L. (2008). "Endomicrobia" and Other Bacteria Associated with the Hindgut of Dermolepida albohirtum Larvae. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 74: 762-767 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Nakamura, K., Terada, T., Sekiguchi, Y., Shinzato, N., Meng, X.-Y., Enoki, M., Kamagata, Y. (2006). Application of Pseudomurein Endoisopeptidase to Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization of Methanogens within the Family Methanobacteriaceae. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 72: 6907-6913 [Abstract] [Full Text]