The gut microbiome of the Passalid beetle has high cellulolytic potential and constitutes an unrecognized system for production of greenhouse gasses in neotropical forests

In this study we explored the microbial communities in the gut of the Costa Rican Passalid beetle and its associated substrate (chewed wood material that covers the galleries the beetles make inside decaying logs). We collected specimens and substrate from 5 family groups of these beetles in the tropical forest of Braulio Carrillo National Park. We tested several DNA extraction methods to make sure to obtain the best possible characterization of the microbial communities. Then we used 16S amplicon sequencing generated using 454 for these samples. Finally, we selected a subset of samples and sequenced 7 metagenomes using Illumina sequencing. These were individually assembled and binned to produce a collection of MAGs.