Bacterial from the gut of Galleria mellonella Metagenome

Larvae of the greater wax moth (Galleria mellonella) are an emerging animal model to study plastic polymer biodegradation and the innate immune response. Both of these complex biological processes are likely impacted by the host microbiome, which remains understudied in lepidopterans. Recently, diet was strongly associated differences in the microbiome of G. mellonella larvae, however, no study has investigated the extent by which the food source impacts the microbial component. In this study, we characterized the bacterial flora within the food source (honeycomb) and larval gut as they progressed through development.