The Facultative Symbiont Rickettsia Protects an Invasive Whitefly against Entomopathogenic Pseudomonas syringae Strains.
نویسندگان
چکیده
Facultative endosymbionts can benefit insect hosts in a variety of ways, including context-dependent roles, such as providing defense against pathogens. The role of some symbionts in defense may be overlooked, however, when pathogen infection is transient, sporadic, or asymptomatic. The facultative endosymbiont Rickettsia increases the fitness of the sweet potato whitefly (Bemisia tabaci) in some populations through mechanisms that are not yet understood. In this study, we investigated the role of Rickettsia in mediating the interaction between the sweet potato whitefly and Pseudomonas syringae, a common environmental bacterium, some strains of which are pathogenic to aphids. Our results show that P. syringae multiplies within whiteflies, leading to host death, and that whiteflies infected with Rickettsia show a decreased rate of death due to P. syringae. Experiments using plants coated with P. syringae confirmed that whiteflies can acquire the bacteria at a low rate while feeding, leading to increased mortality, particularly when the whiteflies are not infected with Rickettsia. These results suggest that P. syringae may affect whitefly populations in nature and that Rickettsia can ameliorate this effect. This study highlights the possible importance of interactions among opportunistic environmental pathogens and endosymbionts of insects.
منابع مشابه
ECOLOGY AND POPULATION BIOLOGY Assessments of Fitness Effects by the Facultative Symbiont Rickettsia in the Sweetpotato Whitefly (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae)
The sweet potato whiteßy, Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae), harbors several bacterial symbionts, including the obligate primary symbiont Portiera aleyrodidarum and the facultative secondary symbionts Arsenophonus, Cardinium, Fritschea,Hamiltonella, Rickettsia, and Wolbachia. The roles of these symbionts are yet unknown. In this study, we tested for possible effects of one sym...
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In natural populations of the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum, a facultative bacterial symbiont of the genus Rickettsia has been detected at considerable infection frequencies worldwide. We investigated the effects of the Rickettsia symbiont on the host aphid and also on the coexisting essential symbiont Buchnera. In situ hybridization revealed that the Rickettsia symbiont was specifically locali...
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ورودعنوان ژورنال:
- Applied and environmental microbiology
دوره 80 23 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 2014