article · Frontiers in Microbiology
This study investigated the bacterial communities within Dactylopius opuntiae, a significant cactus pest in Morocco, to understand how its microbiota varies across different tissues, life stages, and environmental regions. Researchers used 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing on samples from adult female guts and ovaries, and whole-body nymphs, collected from arid Marrakech and humid Al Hoceima. The findings revealed a clear geographic structuring of the microbiota. Insects from Marrakech showed lower bacterial diversity in adults, dominated by Pseudomonadota, while nymphs were dominated by Bacillota. In contrast, samples from Al Hoceima had consistently higher bacterial richness, with Pseudomonadota being prevalent. Specific bacterial taxa were identified with differences linked to tissue type and region. This research provides foundational data on insect-microbe associations, suggesting that environmental conditions influence the pest's microbial composition.
Understanding the microbial communities within insect pests like Dactylopius opuntiae is crucial because these microbes can influence host biology and adaptation. This knowledge could lead to the development of more targeted and effective pest management strategies, helping to protect agricultural crops and ecosystems from invasive species.
This early-stage research provides foundational descriptive data on the microbiota of a significant agricultural pest. The identification of bacterial taxa that vary with environmental conditions could inform the development of microbiome-aware pest management strategies. Potential applications might involve manipulating the pest's microbiota to reduce its impact, or using specific microbial profiles as indicators for regional pest control approaches. This could be relevant for agricultural organisations and pest control companies.
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Introduction Investigating the hidden microbial world within insect hosts yields new insights into their biology, ecology, and adaptation. Dactylopius opuntiae (Cockerell), a major invasive pest of the cactus Opuntia ficus-indica , causes severe economic and ecological damage in Morocco and other arid regions. However, little is known about its associated bacterial microbiota and how it varies across environmental gradients. This study explored the bacterial diversity of D. opuntiae and evaluated how it varies across tissue types, developmental stages, and contrasting environmental regions. Methods We characterized bacterial communities in two tissue types (gut and ovary) of adult females and in whole-body samples of nymphs, collected from two ecologically contrasting regions of Morocco: Marrakech (arid, semi-desert climate) and Al Hoceima (humid, Mediterranean climate). Using 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequencing, we evaluated differences in diversity, composition, and relative abundance across regions and developmental stages. Results Sequencing generated approximately 2.84 million reads across all samples, of which 91.9% were retained after quality filtering and contaminant removal, and 91.2% were successfully classified to bacterial taxa. Our results revealed clear geographic structuring of the microbiota. In insects from Marrakech, the adult gut and ovary harboured comparatively lower bacterial diversity and were dominated by Pseudomonadota , whereas whole-body nymph samples were dominated by Bacillota (>70% relative abundance). In contrast, samples from Al Hoceima showed consistently higher bacterial richness across stages and tissues, with Pseudomonadota accounting for approximately 60–90% of reads. Differential abundance analysis identified several taxa with nominal tissue- and region-associated differences ( p < 0.05), including Thiomonas , Burkholderia , and Acinetobacter baumannii for tissues, and Staphylococcus xylosus , Klebsiella pneumoniae , Salmonella enterica , and Ferrovum myxofaciens for regions. The most represented bacterial orders in Al Hoceima samples were Burkholderiales , Enterobacterales , Nitrosomonadales , and Rhodocyclales . Discussion/conclusion Together, these findings highlight the spatial variability of insect–microbe association in D. opuntiae and point to candidate bacterial taxa whose distribution covaries with regional environmental conditions. This study provides baseline, descriptive microbiome data and a foundation for future functional investigations of microbial roles in host biology, which may in turn inform microbiome-aware pest management strategies across Moroccan agroecosystems.
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DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2026.1890634
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