AUTHOR=Salazar McKinlee M. , Pupo Mônica T. , Brown Amanda M. V. 

TITLE=Co-Occurrence of Viruses, Plant Pathogens, and Symbionts in an Underexplored Hemipteran Clade

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cellular-and-infection-microbiology/articles/10.3389/fcimb.2021.715998

DOI=10.3389/fcimb.2021.715998

ISSN=2235-2988

ABSTRACT=<p>Interactions between insect symbionts and plant pathogens are dynamic and complex, sometimes involving direct antagonism or synergy and sometimes involving ecological and evolutionary leaps, as insect symbionts transmit through plant tissues or plant pathogens transition to become insect symbionts. Hemipterans such as aphids, whiteflies, psyllids, leafhoppers, and planthoppers are well-studied plant pests that host diverse symbionts and vector plant pathogens. The related hemipteran treehoppers (family Membracidae) are less well-studied but offer a potentially new and diverse array of symbionts and plant pathogenic interactions through their distinct woody plant hosts and ecological interactions with diverse tending hymenopteran taxa. To explore membracid symbiont–pathogen diversity and co-occurrence, this study performed shotgun metagenomic sequencing on 20 samples (16 species) of treehopper, and characterized putative symbionts and pathogens using a combination of rapid blast database searches and phylogenetic analysis of assembled scaffolds and correlation analysis. Among the 8.7 billion base pairs of scaffolds assembled were matches to 9 potential plant pathogens, 12 potential primary and secondary insect endosymbionts, numerous bacteriophages, and other viruses, entomopathogens, and fungi. Notable discoveries include a divergent <italic>Brenneria</italic> plant pathogen-like organism, several bee-like <italic>Bombella</italic> and <italic>Asaia</italic> strains, novel strains of <italic>Arsenophonus</italic>-like and <italic>Sodalis</italic>-like symbionts, <italic>Ralstonia</italic> sp. and <italic>Ralstonia</italic>-type phages, <italic>Serratia</italic> sp., and APSE-type phages and bracoviruses. There were several short <italic>Phytoplasma</italic> and <italic>Spiroplasma</italic> matches, but there was no indication of plant viruses in these data. Clusters of positively correlated microbes such as yeast-like symbionts and <italic>Ralstonia</italic>, viruses and <italic>Serratia</italic>, and APSE phage with parasitoid-type bracoviruses suggest directions for future analyses. Together, results indicate membracids offer a rich palette for future study of symbiont–plant pathogen interactions.</p>