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Simple Summary: The domesticated carmine cochineal produces pigments used in food, cosmetics, and the textile industry. Its use dates to the pre-Hispanic period and thus is an Amerindian legacy. Cochineals grow and feed on the edible leaves of cacti. Since insects feed on plant sap, they may obtain their microbes from the plants and indeed we found here that some of the fungi in the insect guts are the same as those encountered in cacti. Fungi may help in digestion as they are capable of breaking down plant polymers in cultures and inside guts. We found fungi inside cochineals during microscopic examinations using different procedures to detect fungi. One of the isolated fungi produces a purple pigment that resembles the carminic acid. This study identified several potential functions of cochineal fungi and examined their plant origin. The cochineal insect Dactylopius coccus Costa (Hemiptera) has cultural and economic value because it produces carminic acid that is used commercially. In this study, distinct fungi were cultured from dissected tissue and identified as Penicillium, Coniochaeta, Arthrinium, Cladosporium, Microascus, Aspergillus, and Periconia. Fungi were microscopically observed inside cochineals in the gut, fat body, and ovaries. Since cochineals spend their lives attached to cactus leaves and use the sap as feed, they can obtain fungi from cacti plants. Indeed, we obtained Penicillium, Aspergillus, and Cladosporium fungi from cacti that were identical to those inside cochineals, supporting their plant origin. Fungi could be responsible for the degrading activities in the insect guts, since cellulase, pectinase, and amylase enzymatic activities in insect guts decreased in fungicide-treated cochineals. Our findings set the basis for the further study of the interactions between insects, fungi, and their host plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Health depends on the diet and a vegetal diet promotes health by providing fibres, vitamins and diverse metabolites. Remarkably, plants may also provide microbes. Fungi and bacteria that reside inside plant tissues (endophytes) seem better protected to survive digestion; thus, we investigated the reported evidence on the endophytic origin of some members of the gut microbiota in animals such as panda, koala, rabbits and tortoises and several herbivore insects. Data examined here showed that some members of the herbivore gut microbiota are common plant microbes, which derived to become stable microbiota in some cases. Endophytes may contribute to plant fibre or antimetabolite degradation and synthesis of metabolites with the plethora of enzymatic activities that they display; some may have practical applications, for example, Lactobacillus plantarum found in the intestinal tract, plants and in fermented food is used as a probiotic that may defend animals against bacterial and viral infections as other endophytic‐enteric bacteria do. Clostridium that is an endophyte and a gut bacterium has remarkable capabilities to degrade cellulose by having cellulosomes that may be considered the most efficient nanomachines. Cellulose degradation is a challenge in animal digestion and for biofuel production. Other endophytic‐enteric bacteria may have cellulases, pectinases, xylanases, tannases, proteases, nitrogenases and other enzymatic capabilities that may be attractive for biotechnological developments, indeed many endophytes are used to promote plant growth. Here, a cycle of endophytic‐enteric‐soil‐endophytic microbes is proposed which has relevance for health and comprises the fate of animal faeces as natural microbial inoculants for plants that constitute bacterial sources for animal guts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]