Effects of Diet on the Gut Bacterial Community of Aldrichina grahami (Diptera: Calliphoridae) across Developmental Stages.

Simple Summary: The blowfly, Aldrichina grahami, is widely recognized as a highly significant insect in forensic investigations. Despite the pivotal role of gut microbes in various facets of insect biology, limited knowledge exists regarding the gut microbiome of A. grahami. To investigate the gut bacterial community of A. grahami and explore its stability, diet and developmental stage were selected as the two variables. Larvae were reared on bovine liver, swine manure, and chicken manure, and high-throughput sequencing was performed on the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd instar larvae and the newly emerged adults. Our results revealed that the dominant genera Vagococcus, Providencia, Lactobacillus, and Morganella were present in more than 80% of gut samples. The alpha and beta diversity of the gut bacterial community do not vary significantly across different diets and developmental stages. Our results indicated that the bacterial community in the gut of A. grahami exhibits remarkable stability, and the dominant genera Vagococcus, Providencia, Lactobacillus, and Morganella might be potential core microbes in the gut microbial community. The blowfly, Aldrichina grahami (Diptera: Calliphoridae), is a well-known forensically important insect. Basic data related to A. grahami have been well documented; but despite the pivotal role of gut microbes in various facets of insect biology, little is known about its gut microbiome. To investigate the gut bacterial community of A. grahami and explore its stability, diet and developmental stage were selected as the two variables. Larvae were reared on bovine liver, swine manure, and chicken manure, and high-throughput sequencing of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd instar larvae and the newly emerged adults was performed. According to our results, the alpha diversity of the gut bacterial community did not significantly vary among different diets and developmental stages. Principal coordinate analysis revealed that the gut microbiome of A. grahami clustered together among different diets and developmental stages. The main phyla in the gut microbial community of A. grahami were Firmicutes and Proteobacteria, and the dominant genera were Vagococcus, Providencia, Lactobacillus, and Morganella. These findings characterized the gut microbiome of A. grahami and demonstrated that the gut bacterial community is fairly stable. The dominant genera Vagococcus, Providencia, Lactobacillus, and Morganella have the potential to serve as core microbiomes within the gut microbial community of A. grahami. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]