Antimicrobials Affect the Fat Body Microbiome and Increase the Brown Planthopper Mortality.

Jiateng Shi,Yang Song,Xuping Shentu,Xiaoping Yu

doi:10.3389/fphys.2021.644897

Abstract

Symbionts in the abdomen fat body of brown planthopper (BPH) play an important role in the growth and reproduction of their host, Nilaparvata lugens Stål (Hemiptera: Delphacidae). Thus, controlling BPH infection on rice by inhibiting symbionts with antimicrobials is feasible. However, the effect of antimicrobials on the microbiome in the fat body and the relationship between microbial community and mortality have not been fully elucidated. A decrease in the total number of yeast-like symbiotes in the fat body and elevated mortality were observed after exposure to toyocamycin, tebuconazole, and zhongshengmycin. Additionally, we found that the antimicrobials reduced bacterial diversity and increased fungal diversity in the fat body and altered the bacterial and fungal community structure. Although the total absolute abundance of bacteria and fungi decreased after antimicrobial exposure, the absolute abundance of Serratia increased, indicating that Serratia, which was the most dominant in the fat body, is an important symbiont involved in resistance to antimicrobials. After antimicrobial exposure, seven genera, which probably participated in the nutrition and development function of the host, were totally eliminated from the fat body. Overall, our study enriches the knowledge of microbiomes in the fat body of BPH under antimicrobial treatment and the disturbance of symbionts would be further used to help other pesticides to control pests.

Highlights

The brown planthopper (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens Stål, is one of the typical monophagous pest herbivores of rice in Asia, which feeds on sap from rice plant phloem through its mouthpart and causes hopper burn when BPH population is high (Cheng et al, 2013)
The mortality of the BPH subjected to antimicrobial treatment increased constantly from 1 to 4 days after treatment (Figure 1A)
In the first 2 days, the mortality of BPH treated with zhongshengmycin was higher than the BPH treated with toyocamycin and tebuconazole

Summary

Introduction

The brown planthopper (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens Stål, is one of the typical monophagous pest herbivores of rice in Asia, which feeds on sap from rice plant phloem through its mouthpart and causes hopper burn when BPH population is high (Cheng et al, 2013). The BPH is one of the significant pests affecting rice production, and N. lugens outbreaks have led to huge rice yield losses since 1970s in many East and Southeast Asian countries (Wu et al, 2018). The BPH is hard to control due to its long-distance migration characteristic and resistance to rice varieties and pesticides. Recent studies showed that the ability to migrate and resistance to external environmental conditions is related to the abundance and variability of endosymbionts (Tang et al, 2010; Malathi et al, 2018).

Methods

Results

Conclusion