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Systematics, Evolution, and Biodiversity

10-Minute Paper

PBT: Ecology – General On-Demand Presentations

A beetle’s Achilles' heel: Glyphosate inhibits symbiotic bacteria in saw-toothed grain beetle

On-Demand
On-Demand

    Presenting Author(s)

  • Julian Simon Thilo Kiefer

    PhD Student
    Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz
    Mainz, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany

    • Co-Author(s)

  • SB

    Suvdanselengee Batsukh

    Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz
    Mainz, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany

  • EB

    Eugen Bauer

    Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz
    Mainz, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany

  • BH

    Bin Hirota

    National Institute of Advanced Ind Science and Tech
    Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan

  • BW

    Benjamin Weiss

    Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology
    Jena, Thuringen, Germany

  • JW

    Jürgen Wierz

    Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz
    Mainz, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany

  • TF

    Takema Fukatsu

    National Institute of Advanced Ind Science and Tech
    Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan

  • MK

    Martin Kaltenpoth

    Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology
    Jena, Thuringen, Germany

  • Tobias Engl

    Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology
    Jena, Thuringen, Germany

Glyphosate is widely used as a herbicide, but recent studies begin to reveal its detrimental
side effects on animals by targeting the shikimate pathway of associated gut microorganisms.
However, its impact on nutritional endosymbionts in insects remains poorly understood.
Here, we sequenced the tiny, shikimate pathway encoding symbiont genome of the sawtoothed
grain beetle Oryzaephilus surinamensis. Decreased titers of the aromatic amino acid
tyrosine in symbiont-depleted beetles underscore the symbionts’ ability to synthesize prephenate
as the precursor for host tyrosine synthesis and its importance for cuticle sclerotization
and melanization. Glyphosate exposure inhibited symbiont establishment during
host development and abolished the mutualistic benefit on cuticle synthesis in adults, which
could be partially rescued by dietary tyrosine supplementation. Furthermore, phylogenetic
analyses indicate that the shikimate pathways of many nutritional endosymbionts likewise
contain a glyphosate sensitive 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase. These findings
highlight the importance of symbiont-mediated tyrosine supplementation for cuticle biosynthesis
in insects, but also paint an alarming scenario regarding the use of glyphosate in
light of recent declines in insect populations.