Microbial diversity in ptinid and bostrichid beetles

Many ptinid beetles are major pests that target diverse food sources, ranging from stored food products to books in historical libraries. The best documented ptinids are Lasioderma serricorne and Stegobium paniceum which feed on flour and tobacco. Both of these species contain fungal endosymbionts that are critical to their development and may serve as potential targets for pesticides. Despite the economic threat that the 2,200 species of ptinid beetles pose, fewer than 50 have been checked for microbial symbionts, and only a handful have been screened using contemporary genomic methods. Here, we used 16S rRNA and ITS rRNA gene amplicon data to identify bacterial and fungal symbionts in 70 species of ptinid and bostrichid beetles collected from 9 countries and 4 continents.