Study on the gut microbiotia of plastic-eating mealworms by using high-throughput sequencing Targeted loci. insect gut metagenome

[Objective] To determine the composition and diversity of microbial communities in the plastic-eating mealworms’ (Tenebrio molitor) gut microbiota. [Methods] The mealworms were fed for 90 days in two groups, plastic-eating group and paper-eating group, and the bacterial community structure of their gut microbiota were investigated using high-throughput sequencing targeting V3–V4 regions in 16S rRNA gene.