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Intestinal microecology associated with fluoride resistance capability of the silkworm (Bombyx mori L.)

  • Applied genetics and molecular biotechnology
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Abstract

The silkworm (Bombyx mori L.) is an ideal model of Lepidoptera. However, the diversity and function of the intestinal microbiota in the gut of silkworm remain largely unknown. Changes in the intestinal microecology in fluoride-resistant strain T6 and fluoride-susceptible strain 734 of the silkworm in response to fluoride exposure were investigated. T6 and 734 were treated with 200 mg/kg fluoride (designated as T6-T and 734-T groups) and deionized water (designated as T6-C and 734-C groups). Culture-dependent approach revealed that the numbers of intestinal bacteria in the 734-T group significantly decreased compared with that in the 734-C group (4.8 ± 0.6 × 107 CFU/mL vs. 7.5 ± 0.7 × 107 CFU/mL; P < 0.05). Analyses of the intestinal content pH showed that the pH decreased in the 734-T group only. Additionally, SCFA concentrations significantly decreased in both treatment groups compared with the control groups. High-throughput sequencing indicated that the intestinal microbiota in the 734-T group was significantly more diverse than those in the other groups. The bacterial community was composed of two dominant groups (Firmicutes and Proteobacteria). Principal component analyses revealed a significant difference in the composition of the intestinal microbiota in the 734-T group compared with those in the other groups. Thaumarchaeota and Euryarchaeota were more abundant in the 734-T group, but they were less abundant in the other groups. This study enhances our understanding about the diversity and function of silkworm intestinal microbiota in response to fluoride exposure among silkworm strains with diverse resistance.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to all who provided the means for us to access free software, which we used cited in this article. We thank all partners and laboratory members for their kind help. We are obliged to the anonymous reviewers of Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology for their constructive comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Genetics and Breeding of Silkworm, College of Biotechnology, Southwest University, No. 2 Tiansheng Road, Beibei District, Chongqing, 400715, P. R. China

    Guan-Nan Li, Wen-Chao Tang & Yong Zhu

  2. State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Chongqing, 400716, China

    Guan-Nan Li, Wen-Chao Tang & Yong Zhu

  3. College of Food Science, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400716, China

    Xue-Juan Xia

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  1. Guan-Nan Li
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Correspondence to Yong Zhu.

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Funding

This study was supported by The National Agricultural Science and Technology Achievements Transformation Foundation (2012GB2F100376) and The Special Research Foundation of Southwest University (XDJK2014D039).

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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This paper is our original work. It has not been submitted elsewhere, and it is not under consideration in any other journal. Our study complies with institutional standards on research silkworms. All the authors have seen the manuscript and approved its submission to Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology.

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Li, GN., Xia, XJ., Tang, WC. et al. Intestinal microecology associated with fluoride resistance capability of the silkworm (Bombyx mori L.). Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 100, 6715–6724 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-016-7480-1

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