Affiliation:
1. Department of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology Botswana International University of Science and Technology Palapye Botswana
2. Westerdijk Institute of Fungal Biodiversity Utrecht The Netherlands
3. Department of Zoology, College of Science King Saud University Riyadh Saudi Arabia
4. Metabolomics Unit, Food Quality and Nutrition Department Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach San Michele all'Adige Italy
Abstract
AbstractYeast–insect interactions are increasingly becoming an attractive source of discovery for previously unknown, unique, diverse, and industrially relevant yeast species. Despite a wealth of studies that have recently focused on yeasts in symbiotic association with Hymenopteran insects, yeasts associated with Coleopteran insects, such as lignocellulosic‐rich dung‐dependent beetles, remain poorly studied. Trends in yeast discovery suggest that species richness and diversity can be attributed to the ecological niche of the insect. Here, we considered the potential of dung beetles inhabiting the extreme environments of Botswana, characterized by desert‐like conditions (semi‐arid to arid and hot) as well as protected pristine environments, as possible attribute niches that can shape the extremophilic and diverse life history strategies of yeasts. We obtained a total of 97 phylogenetically diverse yeast isolates from six species of dung beetles from Botswana's unexplored environments, representing 19 species belonging to 11 genera. The findings suggest that the guts of dung beetles are a rich niche for non‐Saccharomyces yeast species. Meyerozyma and Pichia were the most dominant genera associated with dung beetles, representing 55% (53 out of 97) of the yeast isolates in our study. Trichosporon and Cutaneotrichosporon genera represented 32% (31 out of 97) of the isolates. The remaining isolates belonged to Apiotrichum, Candida, Diutina, Naganishia, Rhodotorula, and Wickerhamiella genera (12 out of 97). We found out that about 62% (60 out of 97) of the isolates were potentially new species because of their low internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequence similarity when compared to the most recent optimal species delineation threshold. A single isolate was unidentifiable using the ITS sequences. Using an in silico polymerase chain reaction‐restriction fragment length polymorphism approach, we revealed that there was genetic diversity within isolates of the same species. Our results contribute to the knowledge and understanding of the diversity of dung beetle‐associated yeasts.
Funder
Botswana International University of Science and Technology
Subject
Genetics,Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology,Biochemistry,Bioengineering,Biotechnology
Cited by
2 articles.
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