DARWIN Bioprospecting Excellence and the Institute of Integrative Biology of Systems (I2SysBio) have published a study that reveals a very diverse microbial community and the potential of the gut of the larva of the beetle Pachnoda marginata as a source of microbial diversity of industrial interest. The work published in the journal “npj Biofilms and Microbiomes” highlights that biological activities and metabolic pathways related to cellulose degradation, methane production and sulfate reduction have been characterized.

Insect gut microbiomes play a crucial role in their development and are influenced by specialized feeding habits and the morphological structure of their gut. Beetles of the genus Pachnoda have a highly differentiated gut, with a marked dilation in the hindgut that resembles a small rumen (the first of the four stomachs in ruminants). In the study, the species Pachnoda marginata was investigated in detail to understand its microbial ecology.

Manel Porcar (I2SysBio and DARWIN Bioprospeting Excellence) and Juli Peretó (professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, UV), principal researchers of the project, point out the biotechnological potential of some of the microbial communities present in the intestine of Pachnoda which, for example, they can resemble a biogas production plant.

Using environmental genomics techniques (metagenomics) that allow analyzing the genomes present in a given environment, the microbial community of P. marginata was analyzed in each section of the intestine. A microbial gradient was found from aerobic communities in the foregut to strictly anaerobic communities in the hindgut.

This study represents an important step towards understanding the complex microbial communities that inhabit the highly compartmentalized gut of P. marginata, a study of microbial ecology that had not yet been done, and which opens doors to future research in this field

The State Research Agency, the European Union, and the Valencian Agency for Innovation have supported this research.