Gut bacterial communities of Lymantria xylina and their associations with host development and diets

The gut microbiota of insects have a wide range of effects on host nutrition, physiology, and behavior. The structure of gut microbiota might also be shaped by their environment causing them to adjust to their hosts; thus, the objective of this study was to examine variations in the morphological traits and gut microbiota of <em>Lymantria xylina</em> in response to natural and artificial diets using high-throughput pyrosequencing. Regarding morphology, the head width for larvae fed on a sterilized artificial diet was smaller than for larvae fed on a non-sterilized host-plant diet in the early instars. The gut microbiota diversity of <em>L</em><em>.</em><em> xylina</em> fed on different diets was significantly different but did not change during different development periods. This seemed to indicate vertical inheritance occurred in <em>L</em><em>.</em><em> xylina</em> mutualistic symbionts. <em>Acinetobacter</em> and <em>Enterococcus</em> were dominant in eggs. In first instar larvae, <em>Acinetobacter</em> accounted for 33.52% for the sterilized artificial diet treatment, while <em>Enterococcus </em>(67.88%) was the predominant bacteria for the non-sterilized host-plant diet treatment. Gut microbe structures were adapted to both diets through vertical inheritance and self-regulation. This study clarified the impacts of microbial symbiosis on <em>L</em><em>.</em><em> xylina</em> and may provide new possibilities for improving the control of these bacteria.