Characterizing Gut Microbial Communities and Symbiont-Mediated Detoxification in Herbivorous Insects
Graduation Semester and Year
Summer 2026
Language
English
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy in Biology
Department
Biology
First Advisor
Alison Ravenscraft
Second Advisor
Cara C. Boutte
Third Advisor
Jeffery P. Demuth
Fourth Advisor
Luke O. Frishkoff
Fifth Advisor
Hojun Song
Abstract
Insect gut bacteria are vital contributors to host physiology, yet the broader prevalence and fitness implications of symbiont-mediated detoxification remain poorly understood. This thesis investigates these dynamics across three research chapters. Chapter 1 uses 16S rRNA sequencing to characterize how grasshopper gut microbial communities vary across species, dietary breadths, and gastrointestinal segments. Chapter 2 evaluates the detoxification capacity of over 150 bacterial isolates from diverse herbivores against the plant allelochemicals phenethyl isothiocyanate, rutin, and chlorogenic acid to determine if host dietary specialization predicts microbial metabolic ability. Finally, Chapter 3 employs fitness bioassays to test whether inoculating generalist herbivores with detoxifying bacteria provides measurable performance benefits when feeding on toxic diets. Collectively, this research advances the understanding of the gut microbiome’s role in plant-insect interactions by linking microbial diversity to functional detoxification and host fitness.
Keywords
Insect microbiome, gut microbiome, symbiont mediated detoxification, grasshoppers, caterpillars, plant toxins, detoxification, insects
Disciplines
Biology | Entomology | Environmental Microbiology and Microbial Ecology | Other Plant Sciences
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Vargas, Rachel C., "Characterizing Gut Microbial Communities and Symbiont-Mediated Detoxification in Herbivorous Insects" (2026). Biology Dissertations. 7.
https://mavmatrix.uta.edu/biology_dissertations2/7
Included in
Biology Commons, Entomology Commons, Environmental Microbiology and Microbial Ecology Commons, Other Plant Sciences Commons
Comments
The work throughout this dissertation has been funded by the following sources: UTA’s Maverick Bridge Fellowship, UTA’s Dissertation Completion Fellowship, and the NSF (Awarded to Alison Ravenscraft).