Abstract
The Chinese white wax scale, Ericerus pela, is an insect native to China. It harbors a variety of microbes. The Paraconiothyrium fungus was isolated from E. pela and genome sequenced in this study. A fungal cytotoxicity assay was performed on the Aedes albopictus cell line C6/36. The assembled Paraconiothyrium sp. genome was 39.55 Mb and consisted of 14,174 genes. The coding sequences accounted for 50.75% of the entire genome. Functional pathway analyses showed that Paraconiothyrium sp. possesses complete pathways for the biosynthesis of 20 amino acids, 10 of which E. pela lacks. It also had complementary genes in the vitamin B groups synthesis pathways. Secondary metabolism prediction showed many gene clusters that produce polyketide. Additionally, a large number of genes associated with ‘reduced virulence’ in the genome were annotated with the Pathogen–Host Interaction database. A total of 651 genes encoding carbohydrate-active enzymes were predicted to be mostly involved in plant polysaccharide degradation. Pan-specific genomic analyses showed that genes unique to Paraconiothyrium sp. were enriched in the pathways related to amino acid metabolism and secondary metabolism. GO annotation analysis yielded similar results. The top COG categories were ‘carbohydrate transport and metabolism’, ‘lipid transport and metabolism’, and ‘secondary metabolite biosynthesis, transport and catabolism’. Phylogenetic analyses based on gene family and pan genes showed that Paraconiothyrium sp is clustered together with species from the Didymosphaeriaceae family. A multi-locus sequence analysis showed that it converged with the same branch as P. brasiliense and they formed one group with fungi from the Paraconiothyrium genus. To validate the in vitro toxicity of Paraconiothyrium sp., a cytotoxicity assay was performed. The results showed that medium-cultured Paraconiothyrium sp. had no harmful effect on cell viability. No toxins were secreted by the fungus during growth. Our results imply that Paraconiothyrium sp. may establish a symbiotic relationship with the host to supply complementary nutrition to E. pela.
Highlights
The Chinese white wax scale insect (Ericerus pela) is well known for its wax production.White wax secreted by males has high economic value and is widely used in machinery, food, medicine, and other fields [1–3]
The results showed that medium-cultured Paraconiothyrium sp. had no harmful effect on cell viability
We measured the diversity of microorganisms in E. pela and found that they house a variety of microbes; we identified 20 phyla from 128 bacterial families and 4 phyla from 48 fungal families [7]
Summary
The Chinese white wax scale insect (Ericerus pela) is well known for its wax production. White wax secreted by males has high economic value and is widely used in machinery, food, medicine, and other fields [1–3]. The white wax is produced by the second-instar male larvae. The lifespan of females is about one year and they produce eggs in the summer. Males and females of E. pela parasitize the branches of the Chinese ash tree (Fraxinus chinensis) and glossy privet (Ligustrum lucidum) for almost their entire lifespan and remain immobile due to the degeneration of their appendages [4–6]. E. pela display a varied relationship with microorganisms as a result of their sedentary lifestyle [7]. They may inherit a variety of microorganisms from their ground-dwelling ancestors [8]
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