The role of microbial symbionts in host plant use and spectrum in oligophagous cucurbit feeding fruit flies (Tephritidae).

Herbivorous insects are the most diverse group of animals. Although it is not clear how this large diversity arose, one major factor is thought to be the co-evolution between plants and insects . The wide variety of defensive toxins in plants and presence of specialized detoxifying mechanisms in insects resulted in the formation of several species. Nevertheless, different groups of specialized insects are sometimes observed in novel host plants. So we get a chronology of diet range expansion followed by specialization on different plant species. The underlying mechanisms are largely unknown but it has been suggested that microbes could play a role in this process (the microbial facilitation hypothesis). Recently, it has become clear that multicellular organisms are intimately associated with microbes that live inside/on their bodies and can have a big impact on the animal. This project aims to address these questions by focusing on specialized frugivorous flies feeding on Cucurbitaceae plants that were recently observed on atypical host plants (Solanaceae). In a first phase, we will assess whether different cucurbit feeding fruit flies have similar microbiota and metabolic responses to cucurbits. Second, we will explore how the flies own metabolic machinery and their microbiota respond to novel host plants. In the last experiment, we will investigate how impairing their microbiota affects the capacity of the flies to attack plants.

Keywords:TRANSCRIPTOMICS, TEPHRITIDAE

Disciplines:Community ecology, Biology of adaptation, Speciation, Microbiomics, Transcriptomics

Project type:Collaboration project