Species-specific Microorganisms in Acid-tolerant Chironomus Larvae Reared in a Neutral pH Range under Laboratory Conditions: Single Dataset Analysis

• Published in: Microbes and Environments Vol. 38; no. 6; p. ME23029
• Main Authors: Fujii, Sotaro, Kawai, Koichiro, Sambongi, Yoshihiro, Wakai, Satoshi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Japan Japanese Society of Microbial Ecology / Japanese Society of Soil Microbiology / Taiwan Society of Microbial Ecology / Japanese Society of Plant Microbe Interactions / Japanese Society for Extremophiles 2023
• Subjects: acid tolerance; amplicon sequencing; Animals; Chironomidae - genetics; Chironomus; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Larva; microbiome; Microbiota; Regular Paper; saccharide transport; Species Specificity; Chironomus; amplicon sequencing; acid tolerance; saccharide transport; microbiome
• ISSN: 1342-6311; 1347-4405
• DOI: 10.1264/jsme2.ME23029

To obtain a more detailed understanding of organismal acid tolerance, the larval microbiomes of 11 Chironomus species collected from acidic or neutral pH areas in Japan and reared at pH 7–8 under laboratory conditions were systematically compared using an amplicon sequencing ana­lysis. Evenness values were lower for the larval microbiomes of acid-tolerant Chironomus cf. riparius, Chironomus fusciceps, and Chironomus sulfurosus than for eight acid-sensitive species based on an alpha diversity ana­lysis. The lower evenness observed suggested a biased abundance of microorganisms, which was consistent with the identification of Chironomus species-specific microorganisms (such as Agromyces mediolanus and Comamonas odontotermitis related bacteria) with high abundance in acid-tolerant larvae. The abundance of specific microorganisms was also high in the microbiome of acid-tolerant larvae of Chironomus acerbiphilus reared at pH 4, but not in that of acid-sensitive larvae. Based on a PICRUSt2 ana­lysis, genes involved in saccharide transport were less abundant in the microbiome of acid-tolerant larvae than in that of acid-sensitive larvae, indicating nutrient-poor acidic environments. Although these results were obtained from single datasets, acid-tolerant larvae appeared to establish Chironomus species-specific interactions with microorganisms independent of saccharides, in contrast to acid-sensitive larvae. The present study is the first step towards understanding organismal acid tolerance.