Production of Polysaccharide degrading enzymes by the gut microbiota of Leucinodes orbonalis and Bactrocera dorsalis

Abstract

Pests from brinjal and guava were collected and identified as Leucinodes orbonalis and Bactrocera dorsalis respectively. Different bacterial strains were isolated from the gut of these two pests. Morphological and biochemical features like colony characters, gram staining properties, growth rate, motility, catalase activity, fermentative activities were observed. It was tested that the gut of both pests contains bacteria that could produce enzymes that digest polysaccharides including cellulose, xylan, pectin and starch that are normally difficult to digest. It was found that there remains a positive correlation between the type of stored granules in the attacked fruit and enzyme producing efficacy of the endosymbionts of the pests.