Microbial Community Composition Reveals Spatial Variation and Distinctive Core Microbiome of the Weaver Ant Oecophylla smaragdina in Malaysia

The weaver ant Oecophylla smaragdina is an aggressive predator of other arthropods and has been employed as a biological control agent against many insect pests in plantations. Despite playing important roles in pest management, information about the microbiota of O. smaragdina is limited. In this w...

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Main Authors: Chua, K.O., Song, Sze Looi, Yong, Hoi Sen, See-Too, W.S., Yin, W.F., Chan, Kok Gan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Publishing Group 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:http://eprints.um.edu.my/18974/1/Microbial_Community_Composition_Reveals_Spatial_Variation_and_Distinctive_Core_Microbiome_of_the_Weaver_Ant_Oecophylla_smaragdina_in_Malaysia.pdf
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author Chua, K.O.
Song, Sze Looi
Yong, Hoi Sen
See-Too, W.S.
Yin, W.F.
Chan, Kok Gan
author_facet Chua, K.O.
Song, Sze Looi
Yong, Hoi Sen
See-Too, W.S.
Yin, W.F.
Chan, Kok Gan
author_sort Chua, K.O.
collection UM
description The weaver ant Oecophylla smaragdina is an aggressive predator of other arthropods and has been employed as a biological control agent against many insect pests in plantations. Despite playing important roles in pest management, information about the microbiota of O. smaragdina is limited. In this work, a number of O. smaragdina colonies (n = 12) from Malaysia had been studied on their microbiome profile using Illumina 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. We characterized the core microbiota associated with these O. smaragdina and investigated variation between colonies from different environments. Across all 12 samples, 97.8% of the sequences were assigned to eight bacterial families and most communities were dominated by families Acetobacteraceae and Lactobacillaceae. Comparison among colonies revealed predominance of Acetobacteraceae in O. smaragdina from forest areas but reduced abundance was observed in colonies from urban areas. In addition, our findings also revealed distinctive community composition in O. smaragdina showing little taxonomic overlap with previously reported ant microbiota. In summary, our work provides information regarding microbiome of O. smaragdina which is essential for establishing healthy colonies. This study also forms the basis for further study on microbiome of O. smaragdina from other regions.
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spelling um.eprints-189742019-12-05T04:31:58Z http://eprints.um.edu.my/18974/ Microbial Community Composition Reveals Spatial Variation and Distinctive Core Microbiome of the Weaver Ant Oecophylla smaragdina in Malaysia Chua, K.O. Song, Sze Looi Yong, Hoi Sen See-Too, W.S. Yin, W.F. Chan, Kok Gan Q Science (General) QH Natural history The weaver ant Oecophylla smaragdina is an aggressive predator of other arthropods and has been employed as a biological control agent against many insect pests in plantations. Despite playing important roles in pest management, information about the microbiota of O. smaragdina is limited. In this work, a number of O. smaragdina colonies (n = 12) from Malaysia had been studied on their microbiome profile using Illumina 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. We characterized the core microbiota associated with these O. smaragdina and investigated variation between colonies from different environments. Across all 12 samples, 97.8% of the sequences were assigned to eight bacterial families and most communities were dominated by families Acetobacteraceae and Lactobacillaceae. Comparison among colonies revealed predominance of Acetobacteraceae in O. smaragdina from forest areas but reduced abundance was observed in colonies from urban areas. In addition, our findings also revealed distinctive community composition in O. smaragdina showing little taxonomic overlap with previously reported ant microbiota. In summary, our work provides information regarding microbiome of O. smaragdina which is essential for establishing healthy colonies. This study also forms the basis for further study on microbiome of O. smaragdina from other regions. Nature Publishing Group 2018 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://eprints.um.edu.my/18974/1/Microbial_Community_Composition_Reveals_Spatial_Variation_and_Distinctive_Core_Microbiome_of_the_Weaver_Ant_Oecophylla_smaragdina_in_Malaysia.pdf Chua, K.O. and Song, Sze Looi and Yong, Hoi Sen and See-Too, W.S. and Yin, W.F. and Chan, Kok Gan (2018) Microbial Community Composition Reveals Spatial Variation and Distinctive Core Microbiome of the Weaver Ant Oecophylla smaragdina in Malaysia. Scientific Reports, 8 (1). pp. 1-11. ISSN 2045-2322, DOI https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-29159-2 <https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-29159-2>. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-29159-2 doi:10.1038/s41598-018-29159-2
spellingShingle Q Science (General)
QH Natural history
Chua, K.O.
Song, Sze Looi
Yong, Hoi Sen
See-Too, W.S.
Yin, W.F.
Chan, Kok Gan
Microbial Community Composition Reveals Spatial Variation and Distinctive Core Microbiome of the Weaver Ant Oecophylla smaragdina in Malaysia
title Microbial Community Composition Reveals Spatial Variation and Distinctive Core Microbiome of the Weaver Ant Oecophylla smaragdina in Malaysia
title_full Microbial Community Composition Reveals Spatial Variation and Distinctive Core Microbiome of the Weaver Ant Oecophylla smaragdina in Malaysia
title_fullStr Microbial Community Composition Reveals Spatial Variation and Distinctive Core Microbiome of the Weaver Ant Oecophylla smaragdina in Malaysia
title_full_unstemmed Microbial Community Composition Reveals Spatial Variation and Distinctive Core Microbiome of the Weaver Ant Oecophylla smaragdina in Malaysia
title_short Microbial Community Composition Reveals Spatial Variation and Distinctive Core Microbiome of the Weaver Ant Oecophylla smaragdina in Malaysia
title_sort microbial community composition reveals spatial variation and distinctive core microbiome of the weaver ant oecophylla smaragdina in malaysia
topic Q Science (General)
QH Natural history
url http://eprints.um.edu.my/18974/1/Microbial_Community_Composition_Reveals_Spatial_Variation_and_Distinctive_Core_Microbiome_of_the_Weaver_Ant_Oecophylla_smaragdina_in_Malaysia.pdf
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