Analysis and Functional Annotation of Expressed Sequence Tags from the Asian Longhorned Beetle, Anoplophora glabripennis

The Asian longhorned beetle, Anoplophora glabripennis (Motschulsky) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), is one of the most economically and ecologically devastating forest insects to invade North America in recent years. Despite its substantial impact, limited effort has been expended to define the genetic and molecular make-up of this species. Considering the significant role played by late-stadia larvae in host tree decimation, a small-scale EST sequencing project was done using a cDNA library constructed from 5th -instar A. glabripennis. The resultant dataset consisted of 599 high quality ESTs that, upon assembly, yielded 381 potentially unique transcripts. Each of these transcripts was catalogued as to putative molecular function, biological process, and associated cellular component according to the Gene Ontology classification system. Using this annotated dataset, a subset of assembled sequences was identified that are putatively associated with A. glabnpennis development and metamorphosis. This work will contribute to understanding of the diverse molecular mechanisms that underlie coleopteran morphogenesis and enable the future development of novel control strategies for management of this insect pest

Cadophora margaritata sp. nov. and other fungi associated with the longhorn beetles Anoplophora glabripennis and Saperda carcharias in Finland

Symbiosis with microbes is crucial for survival and development of wood-inhabiting longhorn beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae). Thus, knowledge of the endemic fungal associates of insects would facilitate risk assessment in cases where a new invasive pest occupies the same ecological niche. However, the diversity of fungi associated with insects remains poorly understood. The aim of this study was to investigate fungi associated with the native large poplar longhorn beetle (Saperda carcharias) and the recently introduced Asian longhorn beetle (Anoplophora glabripennis) infesting hardwood trees in Finland. We studied the cultivable fungal associates obtained from Populus tremula colonised by S. carcharias, and Betula pendula and Salix caprea infested by A. glabripennis, and compared these to the samples collected from intact wood material. This study detected a number of plant pathogenic and saprotrophic fungi, and species with known potential for enzymatic degradation of wood components. Phylogenetic analyses of the most commonly encountered fungi isolated from the longhorn beetles revealed an association with fungi residing in the Cadophora-Mollisia species complex. A commonly encountered fungus was Cadophora spadicis, a recently described fungus associated with wood-decay. In addition, a novel species of Cadophora, for which the name Cadophora margaritata sp. nov. is provided, was isolated from the colonised wood.Peer reviewe

Proteomic Analysis of Fusarium solani Isolated from the Asian Longhorned Beetle, Anoplophora glabripennis

Wood is a highly intractable food source, yet many insects successfully colonize and thrive in this challenging niche. Overcoming the lignin barrier of wood is a key challenge in nutrient acquisition, but full depolymerization of intact lignin polymers has only been conclusively demonstrated in fungi and is not known to occur by enzymes produced by insects or bacteria. Previous research validated that lignocellulose and hemicellulose degradation occur within the gut of the wood boring insect, Anoplophora glabripennis (Asian longhorned beetle), and that a fungal species, Fusarium solani (ATCC MYA 4552), is consistently associated with the larval stage. While the nature of this relationship is unresolved, we sought to assess this fungal isolate's ability to degrade lignocellulose and cell wall polysaccharides and to extract nutrients from woody tissue. This gut-derived fungal isolate was inoculated onto a wood-based substrate and shotgun proteomics using Multidimensional Protein Identification Technology (MudPIT) was employed to identify 400 expressed proteins. Through this approach, we detected proteins responsible for plant cell wall polysaccharide degradation, including proteins belonging to 28 glycosyl hydrolase families and several cutinases, esterases, lipases, pectate lyases, and polysaccharide deacetylases. Proteinases with broad substrate specificities and ureases were observed, indicating that this isolate has the capability to digest plant cell wall proteins and recycle nitrogenous waste under periods of nutrient limitation. Additionally, several laccases, peroxidases, and enzymes involved in extracellular hydrogen peroxide production previously implicated in lignin depolymerization were detected. In vitro biochemical assays were conducted to corroborate MudPIT results and confirmed that cellulases, glycosyl hydrolases, xylanases, laccases, and Mn- independent peroxidases were active in culture; however, lignin- and Mn- dependent peroxidase activities were not detected While little is known about the role of filamentous fungi and their associations with insects, these findings suggest that this isolate has the endogenous potential to degrade lignocellulose and extract nutrients from woody tissue

Adults of the cerambycid beetle Megacyllene caryae

Many species of beetles in the family Cerambycidae use volatile pheromones to facilitate the location of mates. Visual cues may also influence the location of mates, as the adults of many species of cerambycids are often brightly patterned and diurnal. Theory predicts that combining signals or cues of different modalities (e.g., chemical, visual) to transmit information will increase the likelihood of an organism responding to this information, compared to when the signal or cue is presented alone. Here, we test the hypothesis that attraction of adults of the cerambycid beetle Megacyllene caryae (Gahan) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae, Clytini) to their pheromones will be increased when visual cues are present. Consistent with that hypothesis, the number of beetles caught by traps baited with pheromones was increased 3.4-fold when a dead adult beetle of that species was attached to the trap, relative to those with just pheromone alone. Capture of M. caryae in our study was also influenced by the position of traps within forest stands, with traps at 100 m within stands catching 2.5× as many beetles as traps at the forest edge. These findings suggest that vision and visual cues play an important role in the location of mates by cerambycid beetles and warrant further research. Also, the inclusion of visual cues on traps may enhance the efficacy of trapping cerambycid beetles, such as the detection of species that are non-native and potentially invasive, or when monitoring species that are native and of conservation concern