Eco-evolutionary relations between beetles, host plants and endosymbiotic bacteria

The topic concerning unravelling evolutionary and ecological interactions among beetles (Coleoptera) and i) host plants and ii) endosymbiotic bacyteria was executed under two projects.

The first project concerned understanding the relations among xerothermic (steppic) beetles and their host plants from East-Central Europe. As a result of the executed analyses, the food preferences of 59 weevil and 55 leaf beetle species were identified using the barcode library for steppic plants (more than 150 species), and 224 trophic links were found. Host plants were verified or identified using traditional Sanger sequencing for mono- and oligophagous taxa and next generation sequencing for polyphagous. These analyses not only broadened our basic knowledge of the ecology of steppic assemblages but also provide an important background for planning the conservation of xerothermic insects and plants in Europe.

The second project covered understanding of trophic, biological and phylogenetic relations among European beetle species and endosymbiotic bacteria. The major part of the project concerned bacteria Wolbachia, which is the most prevalent endosymbiont of insects and can manipulate hosts development and speciation. Works included barcoding of nearly 300 beetle species belonged to various trophic and systematic groups, and verification of infection through genotyping of bacterial strains in its host species. The results allowed for the estimation of Wolbachia occurrence among beetles from Central Europe on the level of 27% infected taxa. These studies allowed also for the understanding of horizontal transfer ways through host plants and prey, the impact of Wolbachia on speciation of selected beetle species, including possible parthenogenesis induction in weevils, and correlation between the occurrence of various species of endosymbiotic bacteria in beetles, as well as determination that the trophy mostly determines microbiome composition.

The second step of the study concerned understanding the relations among xerothermic (steppic) beetles and their host plants from East-Central Europe. As a result of the executed analyses, the food preferences of 59 weevil and 55 leaf beetle species were identified using the barcode library for steppic plants (more than 150 species), and 224 trophic links were found. Host plants were verified or identified using traditional Sanger sequencing for mono- and oligophagous taxa and next generation sequencing for polyphagous. These analyses not only broadened our basic knowledge of the ecology of steppic assemblages, but also provide an important background for planning the conservation of xerothermic insects and plants in Europe.

The research were funded by grants of National Science Centre, Poland:

Opus (2011/01/B/NZ8/01491) Beetles (Curculionoidea, Chrysomeloidea) and their host plants in threatened xerothermic environments: evolutionary and ecological interactions inferred from the analysis of DNA– PI dr hab. Ł. Kajtoch

Sonata (2013/11/D/NZ8/00583) The interactions between beetles and endosymbiotic bacterium Wolbachia: the role played by the ecological niche – PI dr hab. Ł. Kajtoch

Publications:

Kubisz D., Magoga G. , Mazur M.A., Montagna M., Ścibior R., Tykarski P., Kajtoch Ł. 2020. Biogeography and ecology of geographically distant populations of sibling Cryptocephalus leaf beetles. European Zoological Journal. 87: 223-234.

Ścibior R., Mazur M.A., Kubisz D., Dudek K. Kajtoch Ł. 2019. How hosts taxonomy, trophy and endosymbionts shape microbiome diversity in beetles. Microbial Ecology. 78: 995–1013

Kajtoch Ł., Kolasa M., Kubisz D., Gutowski J. M., Ścibior R., Mazur M. M., Holecová M. 2019. Using host species traits to understand the Wolbachia infection distribution across terrestrial beetles. Scientific Reports. 9: 847 doi:10.1038/s41598-018-38155-5

Kolasa M., Kubisz D., Gutowski J. M., Ścibior R., Mazur M. M., Holecová M., Kajtoch Ł. 2018. Infection by endosymbiotic “male-killing” bacteria in Coleoptera. Folia Biologica (Krakow). 66: 165-178

Kolasa M., Kubisz D., Mazur M.A., Ścibior R., Kajtoch Ł. 2018. Wolbachia prevalence and diversity in selected riverine predatory beetles (Bembidiini and Paederini). Bulletin of Insectology. 71: 193-200

Kotásková N., Kolasa M., Kajtoch Ł. 2018. Contrasting patterns of molecular diversity and Wolbachia infection in bisexual and parthenogenetic Strophosoma weevils (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). Entomological Science. 21: 385–395

Plewa R., Sikora K., Gutowski J.M., Jaworski T., Tarwacki G., Tkaczyk M., Rossa R., Hilszczański J., Magoga G., Kajtoch Ł. 2018. Morphology, genetics and Wolbachia endosymbionts support distinctiveness of Monochamus sartor sartor and M. s. urussovii (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae). Arthropod Systematics & Phylogeny. 120: 354–363

Kajtoch Ł., Kotásková N. 2018. Current state of knowledge on Wolbachia infection among Coleoptera: a systematic review. PeerJ. DOI 10.7717/peerj.4471

Kajtoch Ł., Montagna M., Wanat M. 2018. Species delimitation within the Bothryorrhynchapion weevils: multiple evidence from genetics, morphology and ecological associations. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 120: 354–363

Kolasa M., Montagna M., Mereghetti V., Kubisz D., Mazur M.A., Kajtoch Ł. 2017. Preliminary evidence of Wolbachia horizontal transmission between Crioceris leaf beetles and Asparagus host plants. European Journal of Entomology. 114: 446–454

Montagna M., Kubisz D., Mazur M.A., Magoga G., Ścibior R., Kajtoch Ł. 2017. Exploring species level taxonomy in the Cryptocephalus flavipes species complex (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 179: 92–109

Mazur M.A., Holecová M., Lachowska-Cierlik D., Lis A., Kubisz D., Kajtoch Ł. 2016 Selective sweep of Wolbachia and parthenogenetic host genomes on the example of the weevil Eusomus ovulum. Insect Molecular Biology. 25: 701–711

Kajtoch Ł., Kubisz D., Heise W., Mazur M.A., Babik W.2015. Plant –herbivorous beetle networks: Molecular characterization oftrophic ecology within a threatened steppic environment. Molecular Ecology. 24: 4023–4038.

Kajtoch Ł., Mazur M.A. 2015. The impact of environmental conditions on efficiency of host plant DNA barcoding for polyphagous beetles. Environmental Entomology. 44: 325-329

Heise W., Babik W., Kubisz D., Kajtoch Ł. 2015. A three-marker DNA barcoding approach for ecological studies of xerothermic plants and herbivorous insects from central Europe. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 177: 576–592

Kajtoch Ł. 2014. A DNA metabarcoding study of a polyphagous beetle dietary diversity: the utility of barcodes and sequencing techniques. Folia Biologica (Krakow) 62: 223-234.

Kajtoch Ł., Kubisz D., Lachowska-Cierlik D., Mazur M.A. 2013. Conservation genetics of endangered leaf-beetle Cheilotoma musciformis populations in Poland. Journal of Insect Conservation 17: 67–77.

Kubisz D., Kajtoch Ł., Mazur M.A., Lis A., Holecová M. 2012. Conservation genetics of highly isolated populations of xerothermic Crioceris quatuordecimpunctata (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). Invertebrate Biology 131: 333-344.