Identification of some endosymbiotic bacteria in pest insect species of stored grains in Tokat city

Due to the inadequacy of current pest control methods dominated by chemical insecticides and their harmful effects on environmental health, the need for additional methods and holistic control programs is increasing. The interaction with endosymbiotic bacteria, which has been determined to have important effects on the phenotypes of pest insects, is an interesting research topic for control programs. In particular, the development of molecular biology methods that enable examination of whole microbiota composition without being cultured and the establishment of modern storage systems in which abiotic factors can be controlled increase the potential to include endosymbiotic bacteria in control programs. In this study, insect and grain samples were taken from a total of 13 stations from various districts of Tokat Province in order to provide data on the endosymbiont bacterial composition of insects of stored grains. After identification of the species by morphological analysis of these samples, a total of 26 populations consisting of 9 species were obtained. Identified species of pest insects are; Cryptolestes ferrugineus Steph. (Coleoptera: Cucujidae), Oryzaephilus surinamensis L. (Coleoptera: Cucujidae), Rhizopertha dominica F. (Coleoptera: Bostrychidae), Sitophilus granarius (L.) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), Sitophilus oryzae (L.) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) , Sitotroga cerealella (Oliv.) ( Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) , Tenebrio molitor (L.) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae), Tribolium castaneum (Herbst.) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) and Trogoderma granarium Everts (Coleoptera: Dermestidae). To determine the presence of Wolbachia and Rickettsia in the obtained populations, PCR was performed with Wolbachia 16S rRNA (wspec) Rickettsia 23S rRNA (rb) primers. According to gel results, endosymbiont bacteria of Wolbachia genus in 25 and Rickettsia genus in 12 of 26 populations were detected. Wolbachia was identified in 12 of the 13 stations and in all 9 insect species. Rickettsia was observed in only 7 stations and 4 species.