The Native Microbial Community of Gastropod-Associated Phasmarhabditis Species Across Central and Southern California
- PMID: 35910595
- PMCID: PMC9329066
- DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.903136
The Native Microbial Community of Gastropod-Associated Phasmarhabditis Species Across Central and Southern California
Abstract
Nematodes in the genus Phasmarhabditis can infect and kill slugs and snails, which are important agricultural pests. This useful trait has been commercialized by the corporation BASF after they mass produced a product labeled Nemaslug®. The product contains Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita, which has been cultured with Moraxella osloensis, a bacterial strain that was originally thought to be responsible for causing mortality in slugs and snails. The exact mechanism leading to death in a Phasmarhabditis infected host is unknown but may involve contributions from nematode-associated bacteria. The naturally occurring microbial community of Phasmarhabditis is unexplored; the previous Phasmarhabditis microbial community studies have focused on laboratory grown or commercially reared nematodes, and in order to obtain a deeper understanding of the parasite and its host interactions, it is crucial to characterize the natural microbial communities associated with this organism in the wild. We sampled Phasmarhabditis californica, Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita, and Phasmarhabditis papillosa directly from their habitats in Central and Southern California nurseries and garden centers and identified their native microbial community via 16S amplicon sequencing. We found that the Phasmarhabditis microbial community was influenced by species, location, and possibly gastropod host from which the nematode was collected. The predominant bacteria of the Phasmarhabditis isolates collected included Shewanella, Clostridium perfringens, Aeromonadaceae, Pseudomonadaceae, and Acinetobacter. Phasmarhabditis papillosa isolates exhibited an enrichment with species belonging to Acinetobacter or Pseudomonadaceae. However, further research must be performed to determine if this is due to the location of isolate collection or a species specific microbial community pattern. More work on the natural microbial community of Phasmarhabditis is needed to determine the role of bacteria in nematode virulence.
Keywords: Phasmarhabditis californica; Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita; Phasmarhabditis papillosa; gastropods; microbiome.
Copyright © 2022 Schurkman, Liu, Alavi, Tandingan De Ley, Hsiao and Dillman.
Conflict of interest statement
IL is a co-inventor on a patent entitled Mollusk-killing Biopesticide (WO2017059342A1). The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Figures
Similar articles
-
Distribution of Phasmarhabditis (Nematode: Rhabditidae) and Their Gastropod Hosts in California Plant Nurseries and Garden Centers.Front Plant Sci. 2022 May 17;13:856863. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2022.856863. eCollection 2022. Front Plant Sci. 2022. PMID: 35656014 Free PMC article.
-
Microbiome Analysis of Malacopathogenic Nematodes Suggests No Evidence of a Single Bacterial Symbiont Responsible for Gastropod Mortality.Front Immunol. 2022 Apr 20;13:878783. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.878783. eCollection 2022. Front Immunol. 2022. PMID: 35515005 Free PMC article.
-
Mortality of the invasive white garden snail Theba pisana exposed to three US isolates of Phasmarhabditis spp (P. hermaphrodita, P. californica, and P. papillosa).PLoS One. 2020 Jan 29;15(1):e0228244. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0228244. eCollection 2020. PLoS One. 2020. PMID: 31995592 Free PMC article.
-
Thirty years of slug control using the parasitic nematode Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita and beyond.Pest Manag Sci. 2023 Oct;79(10):3408-3424. doi: 10.1002/ps.7636. Epub 2023 Jul 18. Pest Manag Sci. 2023. PMID: 37394691 Review.
-
Nematodes that associate with terrestrial molluscs as definitive hosts, including Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita (Rhabditida: Rhabditidae) and its development as a biological molluscicide.J Helminthol. 2017 Sep;91(5):517-527. doi: 10.1017/S0022149X16000572. J Helminthol. 2017. PMID: 28774354 Review.
References
-
- Bongers T., Bongers M. (1998). Functional diversity of nematodes. Appl. Soil Ecol. 10, 239–251. doi: 10.1016/S0929-1393(98)00123-1 - DOI
Grants and funding
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources