Gut microbiota of Spodoptera frugiperda rice and corn strains: diversity and transmission mode"

• Grant number: 19/04086-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: August 01, 2019
• End date: July 31, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy
• Principal Investigator: Fernando Luis Cônsoli
• Grantee: Nathalia Cavichiolli de Oliveira
• Supervisor: Andrew P. Michel
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Ohio State University, Columbus, United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 17/24377-7 - Gut microbiota of Spodoptera frugiperda rice and corn strains: diversity and function on host adaptation process, BP.DR

Abstract

The gut microbiota is an important contributing factor to several aspects of their host's physiology. In insects, symbiotic microorganisms can play important roles in host plant adaptation and speciation, for example. Spodoptera frugiperda, an important agricultural pest of several crops, currently has two well-established strains, which differ at genetic level and utilization of host plants. Symbionts associated with the gut of S. frugiperda may be playing a relevant role in the process of host adaptation and strain differentiation. Thus, the goal of this project is to establish the role of the gut microbiota in host plant utilization and adaptation in insects, using the S. frugiperda "corn" and "rice" strains as a model. For this purpose, correlations between host genotypic diversity and gut microbiota diversity will be carried out assessing diversity characterization of the gut microbiota associated with both strains of S. frugiperda larvae. Populations will be obtained from different regions of Brazil and countries in Latin America, USA and Mexico under field conditions. This characterization will be performed by analyzing the 16S rRna gene. It will also be verified the distribution and spatial organization of the main symbionts into the eggs of S. frugiperda and how they remain associated with the gut and infect the ovaries by using confocal microscopy. (AU)