Wolbachia is one of the most abundant facultative intracellular symbionts in arthropods. it alters host biology in diverse ways, including the induction of reproductive manipulation, association of nutrient supplier and protection against pathogens. Aphids are a group of insects which exhibit interesting biological characteristics such as complex life cycles, alteration of sexual and asexual reproduction and shifts between two different hosts. Wolbachia is widely present in many orders of insects, but so far limited studies on Wolbachia in aphids have been carried out. Galling aphids are a group of aphids that induce galls on their primary host plants at specific life stage. In this study, 15 natural populations representing nine galling aphid species were analyzed for the presence of Wolbachia using species-specific primer pairs. Wolbachia presence in galling aphids was quite low and varied significantly among aphid populations. Only three of the 15 populations we analyzed had detectable Wolbachia and the overall infection rate was 20%. Two Wolbachia strains, O and B, were identified from the galling aphids Kaburagia rhusicola and Schlechtendalia chinensis. Strain O was for the first time to be found in aphids, and it is likely involved with the life stages of galling aphids living in closed microenvironments with specific survival strategies that are different from free-living aphids. Wolbachia is an intracellular facultative symbiont present widely in arthropods. Wolbachia species such as Wolbachia pipientis have many different strains 1,2. At present, 16 Wolbachia supergroups have been reported, and named A to F and H to Q from insects 3-6. Wolbachia diversity was initially characterized using the genes wsp, 16S rRNA, ftsZ, gltA, and groEL as molecular markers 7. One of the consequences of Wolbachia in insects is associated with the induction of different reproductive strategies such as parthenogenesis, feminization, male-killing and cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) 8-11. In addition to reproduction, Wolbachia can also affect the biological characteristics of its hosts, such as providing host nutrients, protecting hosts from RNA viruses, regulating the age structure of the host populations, and improving the proliferation of host stem cells 13-16. The presence of Wolbachia in insects may put selective pressure more strongly on a host or create reproductive barriers that can lead to speciation. Wolbachia-based methods have also been developed to control the transmission of insect pests and arboviruses 17,18. Aphids are a group of insects, many of which are important pests for agriculture and forestry 18,19. However, some species such as galling aphids can manipulate to plant tissues, resulting in the formation of galls, which can provide protection for aphids from predators 20-22. Like most aphids, galling aphids exhibit complex biological traits and a complicated life cycle, such as sexual and asexual reproduction, and alternating between two host species 23. Among galling aphids, Chinese galling aphids are s...
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The horned gall aphid, Schlechtendalia chinensis, inhabits the productive species of Chinese gallnuts, which have economic value. Aphid wax glands are crucial for the survival of the insects since the secreted waterproofing wax is important to protect the aphids from predators, pathogens and honeydew contamination. In this study, we investigated the structure of wax glands and their role in different aphid stages using light and electron microscopy. Our results showed that aphids of all stages except the newly hatched fundatrix possess six parallel dorsal lines with wax gland plates, including two dorsal, two dorsolateral and two lateral lines. Each aphid has a total of 56 wax gland plates with 11 dorsal, 9 dorsolateral and 8 lateral plates. Although no wax glands occur on the dorsum of the newly hatched fundatrix (first instar), the glands do appear once a fundatrix entered the second instar. The wax gland plate is composed of 2 to 22 polygonal depressions, each of which corresponds to a secretory cell covered by cuticle. The wax glands of this aphid belonged to the class 1 glands, which are formed by epidermal secretory cells. The structure of the wax glands varies in the different stages and these changes may be adaptive to the changeable microenvironments in which the aphids live.
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