Abstract
Symbiotic bacteria are important drivers of phenotypic diversity in insects. One of the widespread symbionts to have emerged belongs to the genus Arsenophonus, however, its biological functions in most host insects remain entirely unknown. Here we report two distinct Arsenophonus strains in the brown planthopper (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens, a major pest insect in Asian countries that causes significant economic damage through rice crop destruction. Genomic resequencing data suggested that one Arsenophonus strain (S-type) negatively affected the insecticide resistance of the host. Indeed, replacement of the resident Arsenophonus with the S-type Arsenophonus significantly decreased host insecticide resistance. Transcriptome and metabolome analysis revealed down-regulation of xenobiotic metabolism and increased amino acid accumulation in the S-type Arsenophonus infected host. This study demonstrates how a symbiont-mediated phenotypic change can occur. The results of this study will aid in developing strategies that work through imposing an ecological disadvantage on insect pests, which will be of great value for pest control in agricultural industry.
Highlights
Bacterial symbionts play important roles in the diversification of eukaryotes [1]
We previously searched for mutations associated with insecticide resistance by comparing whole-genome sequences of insecticide-resistant and—susceptible individuals from a field N. lugens population collected from Guangxi, China in 2011
We compared the genetic diversity between Arsenophonus from resistant and susceptible N. lugens by estimating the pairwise FST value using a sliding window approach (5-kb windows sliding in 1-kb steps) according to the allelic frequencies of genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (Fig 1A)
Summary
Bacterial symbionts play important roles in the diversification of eukaryotes [1]. Many organisms rely on symbionts for physiological functions and some symbiotic relationships can even drive the development of important phenotypes [2]. Insects in particular comprise the most diverse class of animals that harbor various bacterial symbionts and have established a wide diversity of symbiotic systems. The relationship between the insect host and the symbiont can be defined as obligatory (essential) or facultative (non-essential). Bacterial symbionts can develop obligatory relationships with their hosts such that they are required for the survival of the host. Most obligate symbionts play important roles in the reproduction of the host [4]. These symbionts are stably maintained by vertical transmission from mother to progeny in the host species, exhibiting coevolutionary patterns with host lineages [5]
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