Origin and diversity of metabolically active gut bacteria from laboratory-bred larvae of Manduca sexta (Sphingidae, Lepidoptera, Insecta).

ABSTRACT: Cultivation-independent analyses based on genetic profiling of partial bacterial 16S rRNA genes by PCR-single-strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP), reverse transcriptase (RT)-PCR-SSCP of the 16S rRNA itself, and stable isotope probing (SIP), followed by RT-PCR-SSCP, were applied to characterize the diversity of metabolically active bacteria in the larval gut of Manduca sexta bred on tobacco leaves under greenhouse conditions. For SIP, hatching larvae were fed with leaves from tobacco plants grown in a (13)CO(2)-enriched atmosphere. Dominant SSCP bands were sequenced and phylogenetically analyzed. Only one major gut colonizer, an Enterococcus relative, was detected; it occurred in the heavy RNA fraction, demonstrating its metabolic activity, and it originated from eggs, where its met

SUBMITTER: Brinkmann N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2592924 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature