Cultivation and Genome Sequencing of Bacteria Isolated From the Coffee Berry Borer ( Hypothenemus hampei ), With Emphasis on the Role of Caffeine Degradation

The coffee berry borer, the most economically important insect pest of coffee worldwide, is the only insect capable of feeding and reproducing solely on the coffee seed, a food source containing the purine alkaloid caffeine. Twenty-one bacterial species associated with coffee berry borers from Hawai'i, Mexico, or a laboratory colony in Maryland ( sp. S40, S54, S55, , , sp. S38, S43, S63, , sp. S45, S46, sp. S61, , , and sp. S30, S31, S32, S37, S44, S60, S75) were found to have at least one of five caffeine N-demethylation genes ( , , , , ), with spp. S31, S32, S37, S60 and . having the full complement of these genes. Some of the bacteria carrying the ndm genes were detected in eggs, suggesting possible vertical transmission, while presence of caffeine-degrading bacteria in frass, e.g., ( ) and ( ) could result in horizontal transmission to all insect life stages. Thirty-five bacterial species associated with the insect ( sp. S40, S54, S55, , group, sp. S29, S70, S71, S72, S73, , sp. S38, S43, S59, S63, , , sp. S45, S46, sp. S28, sp. S61, S62, , , sp. S30, S31, S32, S37, S44, S60, S75, sp. S39, S41, S48, S49) might contribute to caffeine breakdown using the C-8 oxidation pathway, based on presence of genes required for this pathway. It is possible that caffeine-degrading bacteria associated with the coffee berry borer originated as epiphytes and endophytes in the coffee plant microbiota.