The next generation sequencing (NGS) approach has facilitated the investigations of gut microbiota with high throughput and resolution. The present study was focused on the taxonomic and functional characterization of bacterial community associated with different developmental stages of melon fly, Zeugodacus cucurbitae using 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene amplicons metagenomics . Z. cucurbitae is considered an invasive and most staid polyphagous pest of cucurbitaceous and other related crops. The taxonomic analysis of highly variable V3–V4 region of bacterial 16S rRNA gene sequencing indicated that the bacterial community associated with Z. cucurbitae consists of a total of 23 bacterial phyla (including unclassified and unassigned bacteria), comprising 32 classes, 69 orders, 99 families and 130 genera. Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria and Tenericutes were dominant phyla of which family, Enterobacteriaceae was the most abundant in the larval and adult female stages, whereas Mycoplasmataceae was the dominant in the pupal stage. In larval stages of Z. cucurbitae , genus Providencia and Comamonas were the most abundant. However, genus Candidatus- Bacilloplasma and Klebsiella were the most dominant in pupae and adult females of Z. cucurbitae , respectively. PICRUSt analysis conducted for prediction of metabolic activities revealed that associated microbiota were involved in membrane transport, carbohydrate metabolism, amino acid metabolism, energy metabolism, replication and repair processes as well as cellular processes and signalling. The higher number of OTUs was annotated for phosphoglycerate mutase and transketolase in adult females followed by larval stages, which may support the digestive function of the microbiota in larvae and adult females. Our findings provide insights about the high variation in microbiota across developmental stages and basis for microbiota-based management strategies of fruit flies.

中文翻译：

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与瓜蝇、葫芦科（双翅目：实蝇科）相关的细菌群落的高度分类和功能多样性

下一代测序 (NGS) 方法以高通量和分辨率促进了肠道微生物群的研究。本研究的重点是使用 16S 核糖体 RNA (rRNA) 基因扩增子宏基因组学对与瓜蝇不同发育阶段相关的细菌群落进行分类和功能表征。Z. cucurbitae 被认为是葫芦科和其他相关作物的侵入性和最顽固的杂食性害虫。对细菌 16S rRNA 基因测序 V3-V4 高度可变区的分类学分析表明，与葫芦科植物相关的细菌群落共有 23 个细菌门（包括未分类和未分类的细菌），包括 32 个纲、69 个目、99 个科和 130 属。变形菌、厚壁菌、Actinobacteria 和 Tenericutes 是其中的优势门，肠杆菌科在幼虫和成年雌性阶段最丰富，而支原体科在蛹期占优势。在葫芦科的幼虫阶段，Providencia属和Comamonas数量最多。然而，Candidatus-Bacilloplasma 和 Klebsiella 分别在葫芦科的蛹和成年雌性中占优势。为预测代谢活动而进行的 PICRUSt 分析表明，相关微生物群参与膜转运、碳水化合物代谢、氨基酸代谢、能量代谢、复制和修复过程以及细胞过程和信号传导。成年雌性的磷酸甘油酸变位酶和转酮醇酶的 OTU 数量较多，随后是幼虫阶段，这可能支持幼虫和成年雌性微生物群的消化功能。我们的研究结果提供了关于微生物群在整个发育阶段的高度变化的见解，并为基于微生物群的果蝇管理策略提供了基础。