1
|
Manentzos AN, Pahl AMC, Melloh P, Martin EA, Leybourne DJ. Low prevalence of secondary endosymbionts in aphids sampled from rapeseed crops in Germany. BULLETIN OF ENTOMOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2024:1-6. [PMID: 38444236 DOI: 10.1017/s0007485324000063] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/07/2024]
Abstract
Peach-potato aphids, Myzus persicae Sulzer (Hemiptera:Aphididae), and cabbage aphids, Brevicoryne brassicae Linnaeus (Hemiptera:Aphididae), are herbivorous insects of significant agricultural importance. Aphids can harbour a range of non-essential (facultative) endosymbiotic bacteria that confer multiple costs and benefits to the host aphid. A key endosymbiont-derived phenotype is protection against parasitoid wasps, and this protective phenotype has been associated with several defensive enodsymbionts. In recent years greater emphasis has been placed on developing alternative pest management strategies, including the increased use of natural enemies such as parasitoids wasps. For the success of aphid control strategies to be estimated the presence of defensive endosymbionts that can potentially disrupt the success of biocontrol agents needs to be determined in natural aphid populations. Here, we sampled aphids and mummies (parasitised aphids) from an important rapeseed production region in Germany and used multiplex PCR assays to characterise the endosymbiont communities. We found that aphids rarely harboured facultative endosymbionts, with 3.6% of M. persicae and 0% of B. brassicae populations forming facultative endosymbiont associations. This is comparable with endosymbiont prevalence described for M. persicae populations surveyed in Australia, Europe, Chile, and USA where endosymbiont infection frequencies range form 0-2%, but is in contrast with observations from China where M. persicae populations have more abundant and diverse endosymbiotic communities (endosymbionts present in over 50% of aphid populations).
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- A N Manentzos
- Zoological Biodiversity, Institute of Geobotany, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz University Hannover, Hannover, Germany
| | - A M C Pahl
- Zoological Biodiversity, Institute of Geobotany, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz University Hannover, Hannover, Germany
| | - P Melloh
- Zoological Biodiversity, Institute of Geobotany, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz University Hannover, Hannover, Germany
| | - E A Martin
- Animal Ecology, Institute of Animal Ecology and Systematics, Justus Liebig University of Gießen, Gießen, Germany
| | - D J Leybourne
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Behaviour, Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Donner SH, Slingerland M, Beekman MM, Comte A, Dicke M, Zwaan BJ, Pannebakker BA, Verhulst EC. Aphid populations are frequently infected with facultative endosymbionts. Environ Microbiol 2024; 26:e16599. [PMID: 38459641 DOI: 10.1111/1462-2920.16599] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2023] [Accepted: 02/09/2024] [Indexed: 03/10/2024]
Abstract
The occurrence of facultative endosymbionts has been studied in many commercially important crop pest aphids, but their occurrence and effects in non-commercial aphid species in natural populations have received less attention. We screened 437 aphid samples belonging to 106 aphid species for the eight most common facultative aphid endosymbionts. We found one or more facultative endosymbionts in 53% (56 of 106) of the species investigated. This likely underestimates the situation in the field because facultative endosymbionts are often present in only some colonies of an aphid species. Oligophagous aphid species carried facultative endosymbionts significantly more often than monophagous species. We did not find a significant correlation between ant tending and facultative endosymbiont presence. In conclusion, we found that facultative endosymbionts are common among aphid populations. This study is, to our knowledge, the first of its kind in the Netherlands and provides a basis for future research in this field. For instance, it is still unknown in what way many of these endosymbionts affect their hosts, which is important for determining the importance of facultative endosymbionts to community dynamics.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- S Helena Donner
- Laboratory of Genetics, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, Netherlands
- Laboratory of Entomology, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, Netherlands
| | - Marijn Slingerland
- Laboratory of Genetics, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, Netherlands
| | - Mariska M Beekman
- Laboratory of Genetics, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, Netherlands
- Laboratory of Entomology, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, Netherlands
| | - Arthur Comte
- Laboratory of Genetics, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, Netherlands
| | - Marcel Dicke
- Laboratory of Entomology, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, Netherlands
| | - Bas J Zwaan
- Laboratory of Genetics, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, Netherlands
| | - Bart A Pannebakker
- Laboratory of Genetics, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, Netherlands
| | - Eveline C Verhulst
- Laboratory of Entomology, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Leale A, Auxier B, Smid EJ, Schoustra S. Influence of metabolic guilds on a temporal scale in an experimental fermented food derived microbial community. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 2023; 99:fiad112. [PMID: 37771082 PMCID: PMC10550249 DOI: 10.1093/femsec/fiad112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2023] [Revised: 09/06/2023] [Accepted: 09/27/2023] [Indexed: 09/30/2023] Open
Abstract
The influence of community diversity, which can be measured at the level of metabolic guilds, on community function is a central question in ecology. Particularly, the long-term temporal dynamic between a community's function and its diversity remains unclear. We investigated the influence of metabolic guild diversity on associated community function by propagating natural microbial communities from a traditionally fermented milk beverage diluted to various levels. Specifically, we assessed the influence of less abundant microbial types, such as yeast, on community functionality and bacterial community compositions over repeated propagation cycles amounting to ∼100 generations. The starting richness of metabolic guilds had a repeatable effect on bacterial community compositions, metabolic profiles, and acidity. The influence of a single metabolic guild, yeast in our study, played a dramatic role on function, but interestingly not on long-term species sorting trajectories of the remaining bacterial community. Our results together suggest an unexpected niche division between yeast and bacterial communities and evidence ecological selection on the microbial communities in our system.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alanna Leale
- Laboratory of Genetics, Wageningen University and Research, 6700 HB Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Ben Auxier
- Laboratory of Genetics, Wageningen University and Research, 6700 HB Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Eddy J Smid
- Food Microbiology, Wageningen University and Research, 6700 HB Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Sijmen Schoustra
- Laboratory of Genetics, Wageningen University and Research, 6700 HB Wageningen, The Netherlands
- Department of Food Science and Nutrition, School of Agricultural Sciences, University of Zambia, Lusaka 10101, Zambia
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Gu X, Ross PA, Gill A, Yang Q, Ansermin E, Sharma S, Soleimannejad S, Sharma K, Callahan A, Brown C, Umina PA, Kristensen TN, Hoffmann AA. A rapidly spreading deleterious aphid endosymbiont that uses horizontal as well as vertical transmission. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2217278120. [PMID: 37094148 PMCID: PMC10161079 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2217278120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2022] [Accepted: 03/23/2023] [Indexed: 04/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Endosymbiotic bacteria that live inside the cells of insects are typically only transmitted maternally and can spread by increasing host fitness and/or modifying reproduction in sexual hosts. Transinfections of Wolbachia endosymbionts are now being used to introduce useful phenotypes into sexual host populations, but there has been limited progress on applications using other endosymbionts and in asexual populations. Here, we develop a unique pathway to application in aphids by transferring the endosymbiont Rickettsiella viridis to the major crop pest Myzus persicae. Rickettsiella infection greatly reduced aphid fecundity, decreased heat tolerance, and modified aphid body color, from light to dark green. Despite inducing host fitness costs, Rickettsiella spread rapidly through caged aphid populations via plant-mediated horizontal transmission. The phenotypic effects of Rickettsiella were sensitive to temperature, with spread only occurring at 19 °C and not 25 °C. Body color modification was also lost at high temperatures despite Rickettsiella maintaining a high density. Rickettsiella shows the potential to spread through natural M. persicae populations by horizontal transmission and subsequent vertical transmission. Establishment of Rickettsiella in natural populations could reduce crop damage by modifying population age structure, reducing population growth and providing context-dependent effects on host fitness. Our results highlight the importance of plant-mediated horizontal transmission and interactions with temperature as drivers of endosymbiont spread in asexual insect populations.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Xinyue Gu
- Pest and Environmental Adaptation Research Group, School of BioSciences, Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia
| | - Perran A. Ross
- Pest and Environmental Adaptation Research Group, School of BioSciences, Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia
- Section for Bioscience and Engineering, Department of Chemistry and Bioscience, Aalborg University, Aalborg9220, Denmark
| | - Alex Gill
- Pest and Environmental Adaptation Research Group, School of BioSciences, Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia
| | - Qiong Yang
- Pest and Environmental Adaptation Research Group, School of BioSciences, Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia
| | - Eloïse Ansermin
- Pest and Environmental Adaptation Research Group, School of BioSciences, Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia
| | - Sonia Sharma
- Pest and Environmental Adaptation Research Group, School of BioSciences, Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia
| | - Safieh Soleimannejad
- Pest and Environmental Adaptation Research Group, School of BioSciences, Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia
| | - Kanav Sharma
- Pest and Environmental Adaptation Research Group, School of BioSciences, Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia
| | - Ashley Callahan
- Pest and Environmental Adaptation Research Group, School of BioSciences, Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia
| | - Courtney Brown
- Pest and Environmental Adaptation Research Group, School of BioSciences, Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia
| | - Paul A. Umina
- Pest and Environmental Adaptation Research Group, School of BioSciences, Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia
- Cesar Australia, Brunswick, VIC 3052, Australia
| | - Torsten N. Kristensen
- Section for Bioscience and Engineering, Department of Chemistry and Bioscience, Aalborg University, Aalborg9220, Denmark
| | - Ary A. Hoffmann
- Pest and Environmental Adaptation Research Group, School of BioSciences, Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia
- Section for Bioscience and Engineering, Department of Chemistry and Bioscience, Aalborg University, Aalborg9220, Denmark
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Rodrigues LR, Montserrat M, Magalhães S. Evolution in agricultural systems: Moving toward the understanding of complexity. Evol Appl 2022; 15:1483-1489. [PMID: 36330296 PMCID: PMC9624076 DOI: 10.1111/eva.13490] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2022] [Accepted: 10/06/2022] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
Abstract
Agricultural fields are typically simplified ecosystems compared to natural sites, a characteristic that has long-attracted researchers in Ecology and Evolution. In recent years, there has been a rising interest in understanding how agricultural systems are shaped by evolution in the context of changing agricultural practices by integrating biological information of crop systems. This editorial introduces the special issue "Evolution in agricultural systems," incorporating the articles published within this issue into three general areas of research: phenotypic and genetic responses to the environment, biotic interactions and the role of microbes. Together, this body of work unveils unforeseen complexity at all levels, from microbes to trophic chains. Understanding such complexity is critical not only to better understand natural systems, but also if we wish to improve the sustainability of the food system.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Leonor R. Rodrigues
- cE3c: Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes, Faculdade de CiênciasUniversidade de LisboaLisbonPortugal
| | - Marta Montserrat
- IHSM La Mayora‐UMA‐CSIC: Instituto de Hortofruticultura Subtropical y Mediterránea “La Mayora”MálagaSpain
| | - Sara Magalhães
- cE3c: Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes, Faculdade de CiênciasUniversidade de LisboaLisbonPortugal
| |
Collapse
|