Projects & Grants
| Symbiotic microbiota of insect herbivores: key to understanding of host specificity? | |
|---|---|
| Project Id | 18-08803S |
| Main solver | doc. Mgr. Pavel Drozd, Ph.D. |
| Period | 1/2018 - 12/2020 |
| Provider | Standardní projekt GA ČR |
| State | finished |
| Anotation | What is the role of symbiotic microbiota in shaping host specificity of insect herbivores? To answer this important question, we propose to obtain novel, complex data on plant-herbivore-endosymbiont trophic interactions using rigorous sampling design. We will use high-throughput sequencing to determine the changes in composition of bacterial and fungal endosymbionts of insect herbivores in relation to diet breadth and selected environmental factors in temperate forests. Simultaneously, we will perform laboratory experiments comprising feeding of larvae and cultivation of microorganisms, both in gradient of plant secondary metabolites. We will also search for the key components of the microbiota of invasive species underlying their invasive potential. By involving microbiota diversity/composition, we will extend the well-studied paradigm of relationship between diet breadth of herbivorous insects and plant secondary metabolites to the next, previously neglected trophic level. |
