Phosphorus (P)-rich sites develop on phosphate-rock ores, while the soils are generally characterized with P deficiency in subtropical areas, resulting in contrasting nutrient environments for plants and herbivores. It remains unclear how in situ herbivorous insects cope with such two extreme nutrient habitats in terms of metabolome and ionome. Here, we investigated the metabolome and ionome of the weevil larvae (Curculio davidi Fairmaire), which were parasitizing in Quercus variabilis acorns at P-rich and P-deficient sites. Our results showed that there were significant differences in 34 identified metabolites (belonging to sugars, amino acids, lipids, vitamins, nucleosides, etc.) and four chemical elements (P, S, Mg, and Zn) in the two weevil larva populations of the two P-type sites. Moreover, the concentrations of P, Mg, Zn and the identified sugars were significantly higher; however, S, amino acids, and several other N-containing metabolites were lower in the weevil larvae at the P-rich site, in contrast to those at the P-deficient site. Arginine and proline metabolism and glutathione metabolism were the most relevant pathways differentially regulated between the two weevil larva populations at the two contrasting sites. In addition, some metabolites in the weevil larvae were indirectly associated with the P, Mg, Zn, and S concentrations of soils through bottom-up effects. Our results suggested that in situ herbivorous consumers altered their metabolites to a certain extent to adapt to nutrient-varying environments; and there were strong interactions between the nutrients of herbivorous insects and soil elements across variable nutrient sites.

中文翻译：

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代谢组学和离子组学分析揭示了对比的地质磷土壤对亚热带橡树林中种子寄生昆虫的化学计量作用

磷矿石中富含磷（P）的位点，而亚热带地区的土壤通常以磷缺乏为特征，从而导致植物和草食动物的营养环境形成对比。尚不清楚就代谢组和离子组而言，原位草食性昆虫如何应对这两种极端营养生境。在这里，我们调查了寄生在栎栎中的象鼻幼虫（Curculio davidi Fairmaire）的代谢组和离子组。富含P和缺乏P的地点的橡子。我们的结果表明，两个象鼻虫幼虫种群中34种已鉴定的代谢物（属于糖，氨基酸，脂质，维生素，核苷等）和四种化学元素（磷，硫，镁和锌）存在显着差异。两个P型位点。此外，P，Mg，Zn和鉴定出的糖的含量显着较高。但是，S，氨基酸和其他几种N与缺乏磷的位点相比，富含磷的位点的象鼻幼虫中的低代谢产物含量较低。精氨酸和脯氨酸代谢以及谷胱甘肽代谢是两个相对位置的两个象鼻虫幼虫种群之间差异性调节的最相关途径。此外，象鼻幼虫中的某些代谢产物通过自下而上的作用与土壤中的P，Mg，Zn和S浓度间接相关。我们的结果表明，原位草食性消费者在一定程度上改变了其代谢产物以适应养分变化的环境。在不同的营养位点上，食草昆虫的养分与土壤元素之间存在很强的相互作用。