Microbiomes and Symbiosis 

Christian, N., Whitaker, B. K. & Clay, K. 2015. Microbiomes: unifying animal and plant systems through the lens of community ecology theory. Front. Microbiol. 6, 1–15. [pdf]
• Highlights how microbiomes are communities 

Costello, E. K., Stagaman, K., Dethlefsen, L., Bohannan, B. J. M. & Relman, D. A. 2012. The application of ecological theory toward an understanding of the human microbiome. Science. 336, 1255–1262. [pdf]
• Encourages use of community ecology principles to study microbiome 

Douglas, A. E. 2019. Simple animal models for microbiome research. Nature Reviews Microbiology. 17: 764–775. [pdf]
• A nice review highlighting how simple animal systems can provide insight into the function and importance of microbiomes in general.  

Kim, Y.S., Unno, T., Kim, B-Y., Park, M-S. 2020. Sex differences in gut microbiota. World J Men’s Heath 38, 48-60. [pdf]
• A review of studies on the sex differences in gut microbiota of mice and humans.

McFall-Ngai, M. et al. 2013. Animals in a bacterial world, a new imperative for the life sciences. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 110, 3229–3236. [pdf]
• Excellent, short piece on the importance of considering microbial associates 

The Human Microbiome Consortium. 2012. Structure, function and diversity of the healthy human microbiome. Nature 486: 207-214. [pdf]
• Original work characterizing the human microbiome 

Young, E. 2016. I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life. Harper Collins.  
• An excellent, popular literature book on the importance of microbes in the lives of animals, including humans 

Dunn, R. 2016. Never Home Alone: From Microbes to Millipedes, Camel Crickets, and Honeybees, the Natural History of Where We Live. Basic Books.  
• An excellent, popular literature book on the natural history of organisms (including microbes) that live with humans.

Insect-Microbe Interactions 

Berasategui, A., Shukla, S., Salem, H. & Kaltenpoth, M. 2015. Potential applications of insect symbionts in biotechnology. Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 100, 1567–1577. [pdf]
• Highlights some of the applied reasons for studying insect-associated microbes. 

Ceja-Navarro, J. A., Vega, F. E., Karaoz, U., Hao, Z., Jenkins, S., Lim, H. C. et al. 2015. Gut microbiota mediate caffeine detoxification in the primary insect pest of coffee. Nature Communications, 6. [pdf]
• Highlights importance of microbes for breaking down toxic compounds and for plant utilization.  

Futo, M., Armitage, S. A. O. & Kurtz, J. 2016. Microbiota plays a role in oral immune priming in Tribolium castaneum. Front. Microbiol. 6, 1–10. [pdf]
• Role of gut microbes in shaping disease resistance in a model beetle 

Hammer T. J., 2020 Heliconius butterflies host characteristic and phylogenetically structured adult-stage microbiomes. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 1–14. [pdf]
• Highlights how species vary in their microbiomes, with some discussion of importance of food source on the microbiome.

Hosokawa, T., Kikuchi, Y., Shimada, M., & Fukatsu, T. 2007. Obligate symbiont involved in pest status of host insect. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 274(1621): 1979–1984.  [pdf]
• Highlights how insect symbionts can function to degrade harmful compounds 

Koch, H. & Schmid-Hempel, P. 2011. Socially transmitted gut microbiota protect bumble bees against an intestinal parasite. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 108, 19288–19292. [pdf]
• Highlights role of gut microbes in insect disease resistance.  

Ludington W. B., and W. W. Ja, 2020. Drosophila as a model for the gut microbiome. PLoS Pathog. 16: 1–6. [pdf]
• Commentary highlighting connections between model insect microbiomes and human microbiomes

Mason, C. J., St Clair, A., Peiffer, M., Gomez, E., Jones, A. G., Felton, G. W., & Hoover, K. 2020. Diet influences proliferation and stability of gut bacterial populations in herbivorous lepidopteran larvae. PloS One 15, e0229848. [pdf] 
• As is true for humans and other vertebrates, what an insect feeds on can alter the bacterial community in its gut.  

Muratore, M., Prather, C., Sun, Y. 2020. The gut bacterial communities across six grasshopper species from a coastal tallgrass prairie. PLoS ONE 15, e0228406. [pdf]

• An examination of the bacterial microbiome communities of grasshopper species from one ecosystem, evaluating species and sex differences.

Salem, H. et al. 2014. Vitamin supplementation by gut symbionts ensures metabolic homeostasis in an insect host. Proc. R. Soc. B Biol. Sci. 281, 20141838. [pdf]
• Gut bacteria and provide vitamins to their insect hosts.  

Salem, H. et al. 2017. Drastic genome reduction in an herbivore’s pectinolytic symbiont. Cell 171, 1520-1525.e13. [pdf]
• Highlights that some beetles have very specialized relationships with microbes that are critical for nutrient acquisition 

Schwarz, R. S., Moran, N. A. & Evans, J. D. 2016. Early gut colonizers shape parasite susceptibility and microbiota composition in honey bee workers. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 113, 9345–9350. [pdf]
• There has been a lot of work on bee gut microbes given concerns about bee decline.  

Strano C. P., A. Malacrinò, O. Campolo, and V. Palmeri, 2018. Influence of host plant on Thaumetopoea pityocampa gut bacterial community. Microb. Ecol. 75: 487–494. [pdf]
• Evidence that plant a moth species feeds on influence gut microbiome composition.

Bean Beetle Microbes 

Berasategui, A., Moller, A. G., Weiss, B., Beck, C. W., Bauchiero, C., Read, T. D. et al. 2021. Symbiont genomic features and localization in the bean beetle, Callosobruchus maculatus. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 87:e00212-21.  [pdf]
• Documents the core microbiome of bean beetles and the importance of Staphylococcus

Prakash, R. 2011. Isolation of bacteria from Callosobruchus maculatus, coleopteran pest of stored products. J Ecotoxicol Environ Monit 21:541–544. [pdf]
• Identification of gut bacteria in bean beetles using culture-based techniques.

Sevim, A., Sevim, E., Demirci, M., & Sandallı, C. 2016. The internal bacterial diversity of stored product pests. Annals of Microbiology, 66(2), 749–764. [pdf]
• Identification of gut bacteria in bean beetles using culture-based techniques.