Host specificity, seasonality, and urbanicity shape the gut microbiome of a synanthropic insect

Host plant identity most strongly shapes the gut microbiome of the soapberry bug Jadera haematoloma, with introduced-host guts dominated by a single unclassified Rhizobiaceae ASV.

• Why it matters: Rapid host shifts and urban living can alter insect-associated microbes, but it is unclear which ecological factor most determines community structure and how urbanization changes microbiome variability.
• What they did: The study profiled gut bacterial communities across native versus introduced host plants, seasonal transitions, and an urbanicity gradient, using amplicon sequencing to quantify core and accessory ASVs and community composition.
• The result: Seasonal transitions drove turnover among accessory taxa, and urbanization produced a distinct ecological effect: higher beta dispersion linked to more stochastic microbiomes, while green space did not systematically change within-host richness.

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