AUTHOR=Yang Zezhong , Gong Cheng , Hu Yuan , Zhong Jie , Xia Jixing , Xie Wen , Yang Xin , Guo Zhaojiang , Wang Shaoli , Wu Qingjun , Zhang Youjun 

TITLE=Two Deoxythymidine Triphosphate Synthesis-Related Genes Regulate Obligate Symbiont Density and Reproduction in the Whitefly Bemisia tabaci MED

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Physiology

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physiology/articles/10.3389/fphys.2020.574749

DOI=10.3389/fphys.2020.574749

ISSN=1664-042X

ABSTRACT=<p>Deoxythymidine triphosphate (dTTP) is essential for DNA synthesis and cellular growth in all organisms. Here, genetic capacity analysis of the pyrimidine pathway in insects and their symbionts revealed that dTTP is a kind of metabolic input in several host insect/obligate symbiont symbiosis systems, including <italic>Bemisia tabaci</italic> MED/<italic>Candidatus Portiera aleyrodidarum</italic> (hereafter <italic>Portiera</italic>). As such, the roles of dTTP on both sides of the symbiosis system were investigated in <italic>B. tabaci</italic> MED/<italic>Portiera</italic>. Dietary RNA interference (RNAi) showed that suppressing dTTP production significantly reduced the density of <italic>Portiera</italic>, significantly repressed the expression levels of horizontally transferred essential amino acid (EAA) synthesis-related genes, and significantly decreased the reproduction of <italic>B. tabaci</italic> MED adults as well as the hatchability of their offspring. Our results revealed the regulatory role of dTTP in <italic>B. tabaci</italic> MED/<italic>Portiera</italic> and showed that dTTP synthesis-related genes could be potential targets for controlling <italic>B. tabaci</italic> as well as other sucking pests.</p>