ArticleThe ISME journal2022
Bacterial ectosymbionts in cuticular organs chemically protect a beetle during molting stages.
Article in The ISME journal, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers.
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Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 45 citations in OpenAlex.
- Microbial Succession on Honey Bee Body Surfaces Reflects Behavioral Maturation.Microorganisms · 2026Article
- Mining Microbial Dark Matter: Advanced Cultivation Techniques for Bioactive Compound Discovery.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Origin and function of beneficial bacterial symbioses in insects.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2025Review
- Insect immunity in the Anthropocene.Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2025Review
- Article
- Engineered fungus containing a caterpillar gene kills insects rapidly by disrupting their ecto- and endo-microbiomes.Communications biology · 2024Article
- Repeated horizontal acquisition of lagriamide-producing symbionts in Lagriinae beetles.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- With a little help from my friends: the roles of microbial symbionts in insect populations and communities.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2024Review
- Antimicrobial resistance in the wild: Insights from epigenetics.Evolutionary applications · 2024Review
- From phyllosphere to insect cuticles: silkworms gather antifungal bacteria from mulberry leaves to battle fungal parasite attacks.Microbiome · 2024Article
- Article
- Fights on the surface prior to fungal invasion of insects.PLoS pathogens · 2024Article
- Repeated horizontal acquisition of lagriamide-producing symbionts in Lagriinae beetles.The ISME journal · 2024Article
- Extracellular symbiont colonizes insect during embryo development.ISME communications · 2024Article
- Impact of intraspecific variation in insect microbiomes on host phenotype and evolution.The ISME journal · 2023Review
- Colonization dynamics of a defensive insect ectosymbiont.Biology letters · 2023Article
- "Ectomosphere": Insects and Microorganism Interactions.Microorganisms · 2023Review
- A life-and-death struggle: interaction of insects with entomopathogenic fungi across various infection stages.Frontiers in immunology · 2023Review
- Article
- Evolution and ontogeny of bacteriocytes in insects.Frontiers in physiology · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
In invertebrates, the cuticle is the first and major protective barrier against predators and pathogen infections. While immune responses and behavioral defenses are also known to be important for insect protection, the potential of cuticle-associated microbial symbionts to aid in preventing pathogen entry during molting and throughout larval development remains unexplored. Here, we show that bacterial symbionts of the beetle Lagria villosa inhabit unusual dorsal invaginations of the insect cuticle, which remain open to the outer surface and persist throughout larval development. This specialized location enables the release of several symbiont cells and the associated protective compounds during molting. This facilitates ectosymbiont maintenance and extended defense during larval development against antagonistic fungi. One Burkholderia strain, which produces the antifungal compound lagriamide, dominates the community across all life stages, and removal of the community significantly impairs the survival probability of young larvae when exposed to different pathogenic fungi. We localize both the dominant bacterial strain and lagriamide on the surface of eggs, larvae, pupae, and on the inner surface of the molted cuticle (exuvia), supporting extended protection. These results highlight adaptations for effective defense of immature insects by cuticle-associated ectosymbionts, a potentially key advantage for a ground-dwelling insect when confronting pathogenic microbes.
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Registered trials
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.