
Heat-susceptible bacteria living symbiotically in the guts of
insects when exposed to higher temperatures, both the bacteria and the
insect
are negatively impacted and can die, finds new study published in the journal mBio®
Many animals and other organisms harbor microorganisms inside their body. Some insects, such as the southern green stinkbug (Nezara viridula), depend on specific gut bacterium for normal growth and survival.
In the new study, investigators demonstrated that when the southern
green stinkbug was reared inside an incubator, in which temperature was
controlled at 2.5 °C higher than outside, there was a significant
reduction in the symbiont bacteria that sparked severe fitness defects
in the insect (ie. retarded growth, reduced size). Global warming is
predicted to raise the average temperature by 2.5 °C by 2100. At higher
temperatures, no nymphs were able to reach the adult stage.
"Considering that many microbial symbionts are vulnerable to high temperature stress, such symbionts can be the Achilles' heel of symbiont-dependent organisms in this warming world," said principal investigator of the study Takema Fukatsu, PhD, prime senior researcher and leader, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, and a professor at the University of Tokyo and University of Tsukuba.
Source: Eurekalert
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