Gut and faecal bacterial community of the terrestrial isopod Porcellionides pruinosus: potential use for monitoring exposure scenarios

This work aimed to characterize the gut and faeces bacterial communities (BC) of Porcellionides pruinosus using high-throughput sequencing. Isopods were collected from the field and kept in laboratory conditions similar to those normally applied in ecotoxicology tests. Faeces and purged guts of isopods (n = 3 x 30) were analysed by pyrosequencing the V3-V4 region of 16 S rRNA encoding gene. Results showed that gut and faecal BCs were dominated by Proteobacteria, particularly by an OTU (Operational Taxonomic Unit) affiliated to genus Coxiella. Diversity and richness values were statistically higher for faecal BC, mainly due to the occurrence of several low-abundance phylotypes. These results may reflect faecal carriage of bacterial groups that cannot settle in the gut. BCs of P. pruinosus comprised: (1) common members of the soil microbiota, (2) bacterial symbionts, (3) bacteria related to host metabolic/ecological features, and (4) bacterial etiological agents. Comparison of BC of this isopod species with the BC from other invertebrates revealed common bacterial groups across taxa. The baseline information provided by this work will assist the design and data interpretation of future ecotoxicological or biomonitoring assays where the analysis of P. pruinosus BC should be included as an additional indicator. Capsule Terrestrial isopods bacterial communities might support ecotoxicological assays and biomonitoring processes as a valuable tool.

Automated summary

The study characterized the gut and faeces bacterial communities of Porcellionides pruinosus using high-throughput sequencing, revealing higher diversity and richness values in the faecal bacterial community due to low-abundance phylotypes. Common bacterial groups were found across taxa, suggesting potential applications in ecotoxicological assays and biomonitoring processes.