A research group led by former graduate student Daichi Yamamoto of Nagoya University and lecturer Wadaru Toki discovered that the stag beetle Nebuto stag beetle has lost its symbiotic relationship with specific yeasts, and that this leads to migration and dispersal of unspecified yeasts. found to contribute.
Stag beetle larvae feed on rotting wood.It is often thought that they live symbiotically with certain yeasts to aid in the digestion of wood.Adult females have a special pocket-like symbiotic organ, mycangia, which carries symbiotic yeast and passes it on to offspring.
In this research, the symbiotic relationship with yeast was unknown, and the symbiotic relationship with yeast was investigated.Of the 29 adult females examined, more than half were mycangia and did not carry the yeast.A total of 20 yeast strains were found in the remaining females that carried yeast.However, there was no specific yeast that all females had in common, and the amount of each yeast was small.
In other stag beetles, one to three specific yeasts are usually carried in mycangia.This contrasting result indicates that the stag beetle does not coexist with specific yeasts, even though it has mycangia.
Insects that have lost symbiotic relationships with microorganisms are known to lose symbiotic organs, but Stag Beetle, which is rare, loses symbiotic relationships with microorganisms while retaining well-developed symbiotic organs. .This suggests the possibility that Mycangia, which is originally intended to carry symbiotic yeasts, serves as a means of transportation for "non" symbiotic yeasts.
This study is significant in that it shows that insect symbiotic organs can serve as a means of transportation for non-symbiotic microorganisms in forest ecosystems and contribute to the maintenance of rich biodiversity.
Paper information:[Scientific Reports] Presence of non-symbiotic yeasts in a symbiont-transferring organ of a stag beetle that lacks yeast symbionts found in other stag beetles
