AUTHOR=Tan Yanni , Gong Bing , Zhang Qiuqiu , Li Changkun , Weng Junyi , Zhou Xia , Jin Linhong 

TITLE=Diversity of endosymbionts in camellia spiny whitefly, Aleurocanthus camelliae (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae), estimated by 16S rRNA analysis and their biological implications

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=14

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1124386

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2023.1124386

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p>Camellia spiny whitefly, <italic>Aleurocanthus camelliae</italic> (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae), is a major pest in tea, which poses a serious threat to tea production. Similar to many insects, various bacterial symbioses inside <italic>A. camelliae</italic> may participate in the reproduction, metabolism, and detoxification of the host. However, few reports included research on the microbial composition and influence on <italic>A. camelliae</italic> growth. We first applied high-throughput sequencing of the V4 region in the 16S rRNA of symbiotic bacteria to study its component and effect on the biological trait of <italic>A. camelliae</italic> by comparing it with the antibiotic treatment group. The population parameters, survival rate, and fecundity rate of <italic>A. camelliae</italic> were also analyzed using the age–stage two-sex life table. Our results demonstrated that phylum Proteobacteria (higher than 96.15%) dominated the whole life cycle of <italic>A. camelliae</italic>. It unveiled the presence of <italic>Candidatus Portiera</italic> (primary endosymbiont) (67.15–73.33%), <italic>Arsenophonus</italic> (5.58–22.89%)<italic>, Wolbachia</italic> (4.53–11.58%), <italic>Rickettsia</italic> (0.75–2.59%), and <italic>Pseudomonas</italic> (0.99–1.88%) genus. Antibiotic treatment caused a significant decrease in the endosymbiont, which negatively affected the host's biological properties and life process. For example, 1.5% rifampicin treatment caused a longer preadult stage in the offspring generation (55.92 d) compared to the control (49.75d) and a lower survival rate (0.36) than the control (0.60). The decreased intrinsic rate of increase (<italic>r</italic>), net reproductive rate (<italic>R</italic><sub>0</sub>), and prolonged mean generation time (<italic>T</italic>) were signs of all disadvantageous effects associated with symbiotic reduction. Our findings confirmed the composition and richness of symbiotic bacteria in larva and adult of <italic>A. camelliae</italic> by an Illumina NovaSeq 6000 analysis and their influence on the development of the host by demographic research. Together, the results suggested that symbiotic bacteria play an important role in manipulating the biological development of their hosts, which might help us for developing new pest control agents and technologies for better management of <italic>A. camelliae</italic>.</p>