Insects, Geese, Bats, Naturally Lack Gut Bacteria

[lvysaur]

The curious case of the caterpillar's missing microbes

Tobin Hammer, an evolutionary ecologist at the University of Colorado, Boulder, investigated the intestinal microbes of 124 species of wild, leaf-eating caterpillars from the Americas by sequencing a gene commonly used to identify microorganisms. In a preprint posted to the bioRxiv server, Hammer and his team report that they found no sign of what he calls “resident” microbes

In a study of Peruvian ants, Sanders found that some ground-dwelling species seemed to lack an intestinal microbiome entirely.

Matan Shelomi, affiliated with the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany, spent years studying the gut microbiomes of herbivorous stick insects (Phasmatodea). He discovered that there were no microbes in the insects’ guts. Later, he found evidence that the Phasmatodea could break down pectin — another fibre found in plant cell walls — using genes stolen from bacteria early on in the insects' evolutionary history.

“Anecdotally, I’ve heard from researchers having similar problems in birds and fish,” says Hammer. His study included data from several vertebrate species as controls. Some, such as goats, do harbour a gut microbiome. But when Hammer looked for gut microbes in faeces from geese and bats, he found none.

 

[Xisca]

great, everybody can eat wormy fruits without being afraid of the poo stuff!
(maybe this gives B12, good news for vegetarians?)

By the way, I heard a story about chimpanzee in a center, only learning abilities tests, the females could not have babies, sterile or abortion problems, and then they had some change of diet, just having their fruits ecological, and got the wormy ones. And the sterility problem went away. They are known for their insect consumtion in the wild, aren't they?

I am really interrested by insect eating, and here is another proof of the safety in doing so.

 

[Xisca]

The curious case of the caterpillar's missing microbes

Sorry, but the title of the thread would be better change from insects to caterpillars, as in the original page.
Not all insects are the same.
They also suggest that they have to find HOW they do it without microbes. And that it can be stollen DNA from bacterias, so they don't need the bacteria anymore.

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2015/12/cockroaches-communicate-bacteria-their-feces

http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/full/10.1146/annurev.ento.49.061802.123416#_i6

And this one I like very much:
Termites Eat Their Own Poop, and Other Fun Facts About Frass