Does cryptic microbiota mitigate pine resistance to an invasive beetle-fungus complex? Implications for invasion potential.

Microbial symbionts are known to assist exotic pests in their colonization of new host plants. However, there has been little evidence linking symbiotic invasion success to mechanisms for mitigation of native plant resistance. The red turpentine beetle (RTB) was introduced with a fungus, Leptographium procerum, to China from the United States and became a destructively invasive symbiotic complex in natural Pinus tabuliformis forests. Here, we report that three Chinese-resident fungi, newly acquired by RTB in China, induce high levels of a phenolic defensive chemical, naringenin, in pines. This invasive beetle-fungus complex is suppressed by elevated levels of naringenin. However, cryptic microbiotas in RTB galleries strongly degrade naringenin, and pinitol, the main soluble carbohydrate of P. tabuliformis, is retained in L. procerum-infected phloem and facilitate naringenin biodegradation by the microbiotas. These results demonstrate that cryptic microbiota mitigates native host plant phenolic resistance to an invasive symbiotic complex, suggesting a putative mechanism for reduced biotic resistance to symbiotic invasion.