A 454 survey reveals the community composition and core microbiome of the common bed bug (Cimex lectularius) across an urban landscape

Elucidating the spatial dynamic and core constituents of the microbial communities found in association with arthropod hosts is of crucial importance for insects that may vector human or agricultural pathogens. The hematophagous Cimex lectularius (Hemiptera: Cimicidae), known as the human bed bug, has made a recent resurgence in North America, as well as worldwide, potentially owing to increased travel, climate change and resistance to insecticides. A comprehensive survey of the bed bug microbiome has not been performed to date, nor has an assessment of the spatial dynamics of its microbiome. Here we present a survey of internal and external bed bug microbial communities by amplifying the V4–V6 hypervariable region of the 16S rDNA gene region followed by 454 Titanium sequencing using 31 individuals from eight distinct collection locations obtained from residences in Cincinnati, OH. Across all samples, 97% of the microbial community is made up of two dominant OTUs, previously identified as the α-proteobacterium Wolbachia and an unnamed γ-proteobacterium from the Enterobacteriaceae. Microbial communities varied among host locations for measures of community diversity and exhibited structure according to collection location. This broad survey represents the most in-depth assessment, to date, of the microbes that associate with bed bugs.

阐明节肢动物宿主共生微生物群落的空间动态与核心组成，对于可能传播人类或农业病原体的昆虫而言具有至关重要的意义。吸血性昆虫温带臭虫（Cimex lectularius，半翅目：臭虫科），俗称人类床虱，近年在北美乃至全球范围内再度肆虐，其复苏原因可能与旅行频次增加、气候变化及昆虫抗药性有关。迄今为止，尚未有针对臭虫微生物组的全面调查，也未对其微生物群落的空间动态开展过评估。本研究通过扩增16S rDNA基因区域的V4-V6高变区，并结合454 Titanium测序技术，对采自美国俄亥俄州辛辛那提市8个不同居民住宅的31只臭虫个体的体表与体内微生物群落进行了调查。所有样本中，97%的微生物群落由两类优势操作分类单元（Operational Taxonomic Unit，OTU）构成——此前已鉴定出的α-变形菌门沃尔巴克氏体（Wolbachia），以及来自肠杆菌科（Enterobacteriaceae）的一株未命名γ-变形菌。微生物群落的多样性指标在宿主不同身体部位间存在差异，且其群落结构随采样地点的不同而呈现分化。本次大范围调查是迄今为止针对臭虫共生微生物的最为深入全面的表征分析。