Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28485370›Full record

ArticleNature communications2017

The digestive and defensive basis of carcass utilization by the burying beetle and its microbiota.

Heiko Vogel, Shantanu P Shukla, Tobias Engl, Benjamin Weiss, Rainer Fischer, Sandra Steiger, David G Heckel, Martin Kaltenpoth, Andreas Vilcinskas

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 66 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
66citing papers in PubMed
13.0field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

66 citing papers in PubMed, 141 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
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  8. Dietary Lipids and Their Metabolism in the Midgut.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2026
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  12. Microscopic analysis of the digestive and reproductive tracts of maleAnnals of the Entomological Society of America · 2025
    Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Review
  18. Review
  19. Gut microorganisms ofmSystems · 2024
    Article
  20. Article

6 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.

Heiko VogelDepartment of Entomology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, D-07745 Jena, Germany.ORCID 0000-0001-9821-7731
Shantanu P ShuklaDepartment of Entomology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, D-07745 Jena, Germany.
Tobias EnglMax Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Research Group Insect Symbiosis, D-07745 Jena, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-2200-2678
Benjamin WeissMax Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Research Group Insect Symbiosis, D-07745 Jena, Germany.
Rainer FischerFraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology (IME), D-52074 Aachen, Germany.
Sandra SteigerUniversity of Ulm, Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, D-89081 Ulm, Germany.
David G HeckelDepartment of Entomology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, D-07745 Jena, Germany.
Martin KaltenpothMax Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Research Group Insect Symbiosis, D-07745 Jena, Germany.
Andreas VilcinskasInstitute for Insect Biotechnology, Justus Liebig University of Giessen, D-35392 Giessen, Germany.ORCID 0000-0001-8276-4968
Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz · DEMax Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology · DEFraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology · DEJustus-Liebig-Universität Gießen · DEUniversität Ulm · DE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Insects that use ephemeral resources must rapidly digest nutrients and simultaneously protect them from competitors. Here we use burying beetles (Nicrophorus vespilloides), which feed their offspring on vertebrate carrion, to investigate the digestive and defensive basis of carrion utilization. We characterize gene expression and microbiota composition in the gut, anal secretions, and on carcasses used by the beetles. We find a strict functional compartmentalization of the gut involving differential expression of immune effectors (antimicrobial peptides and lysozymes), as well as digestive and detoxifying enzymes. A distinct microbial community composed of Firmicutes, Proteobacteria and a clade of ascomycetous yeasts (genus Yarrowia) is present in larval and adult guts, and is transmitted to the carcass via anal secretions, where the yeasts express extracellular digestive enzymes and produce antimicrobial compounds. Our results provide evidence of potential metabolic cooperation between the host and its microbiota for digestion, detoxification and defence that extends from the beetle's gut to its nutritional resource.

Indexed as

DigestionGastrointestinal MicrobiomeAnal CanalAnimalsAntimicrobial Cationic PeptidesColeopteraFemaleGastrointestinal TractGene Expression ProfilingGene Expression RegulationGene OntologyImmunity, InnateInactivation, MetabolicMaleMuramidasePhylogenyAntimicrobial Cationic PeptidesMuramidaseRNA, Messenger

Identifiers

PMID28485370
PMCPMC5436106
OpenAlexW2612208043

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.