Abstract
Aphids are a diverse family of crop pests. Aphids formed a complex relationship with intracellular bacteria. Depending on the region of study, the species composition of both aphids and their facultative endosymbionts varies. The aim of the work was to determine the occurrence and genetic diversity of Wolbachia, Spiroplasma and Rickettsia symbionts in aphids collected in 2018–2019 in Moscow. For these purposes, 578 aphids from 32 collection sites were tested by PCR using specific primers. At least 21 species of aphids from 14 genera and four families were identified by barcoding method, of which 11 species were infected with endosymbionts. Rickettsia was found in six species, Wolbachia in two species, Spiroplasma in one species. The presence of Rickettsia in Impatientinum asiaticum, Myzus cerasi, Hyalopterus pruni, Eucallipterus tiliae, Chaitophorus tremulae and Wolbachia in Aphis pomi and C. tremulae has been described for the first time. A double infection with Rickettsia and Spiroplasma was detected in a half of pea aphid (Acyrthosiphon pisum) individuals. For the first time was found that six species of aphids are infected with Rickettsia that are genetically different from previously known. It was first discovered that A. pomi is infected with two Wolbachia strains, one of which belongs to supergroup B and is genetically close to Wolbachia from C. tremulae. The second Wolbachia strain from A. pomi belongs to the supergroup M, recently described in aphid species. Spiroplasma, which we observed in A. pisum, is genetically close to male killing Spiroplasma from aphids, ladybirds and moths. Both maternal inheritance and horizontal transmission are the pathways for the distribution of facultative endosymbiotic bacteria in aphids.
Highlights
Aphids (Aphidoidea) are an insect superfamily from the order Hemiptera, which includes about 10 families or subfamilies and about 5000 species
The specimens of the Aspen leaf aphid C. tremulae infected with Rickettsia and Wolbachia have different mtDNA haplotypes, it has yet to be studied in a larger number of samples whether cytoplasmic components are inherited together in this particular aphid species
The present paper provides the first report on the genetic diversity of bacterial endosymbionts in previously understudied aphid species
Summary
Aphids (Aphidoidea) are an insect superfamily from the order Hemiptera, which includes about 10 families or subfamilies and about 5000 species. Obligate associations with Buchnera aphidicola in aphids provide insect hosts with essential amino acids absent in sap (Douglas, 1998). Apart from that, there are nine species of facultative symbionts of aphids (see the review by Guo et al, 2017) coexisting with Buchnera, having both positive and negative effects on the hosts. Facultative intracellular symbiotic bacteria may increase the resistance of aphids against heat stress, parasitoid wasps, and fungal infections, participate in the synthesis of essential nutrients for the host with the obligate symbiont, and facilitate the interaction of aphids with plants that they feed on (Guo et al, 2017). The role of Wolbachia in aphids is not yet fully understood (De Clerck et al, 2015; Manzano-Marín, 2019), but Wolbachia endosymbionts in the Asian citrus psyllid Diaphorina citri repress holin promoter activity in the alpha-proteobacteria ‘Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus’, a citrus disease agent, thereby killing the bacteria and preventing the disease from spreading (Jain et al, 2017)
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