A distinct strain of Arsenophonus symbiont decreases insecticide resistance in its insect host

Abstract

Symbiotic bacteria are important drivers of phenotypic diversity in insects. One of the widespread symbionts to have emerged belongs to the genus Arsenophonus, however, its biological functions in most host insects remain entirely unknown. Here we report two distinct Arsenophonus strains in the brown planthopper (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens, a major pest insect in Asian countries that causes significant economic damage through rice crop destruction. Genomic resequencing data suggested that one Arsenophonus strain (S-type) negatively affected the insecticide resistance of the host. Indeed, replacement of the resident Arsenophonus with the S-type Arsenophonus significantly decreased host insecticide resistance. Transcriptome and metabolome analysis revealed down-regulation of xenobiotic metabolism and increased amino acid accumulation in the S-type Arsenophonus infected host. This study demonstrates how a symbiont-mediated phenotypic change can occur. The results of this study will aid in developing strategies that work through imposing an ecological disadvantage on insect pests, which will be of great value for pest control in agricultural industry.

Bacterial reproductive manipulators in rice planthoppers

“…At the same year, Wang, Luo, Lai, and Fu () reported the infection of Arsenophonus in many N. lugens populations. Recently, more bacteria, with the advantage of metagenomics, such as Asaia , Lactococcus , Pantoea , Enterococcus , Streptococcus , Stenotrophomonas , Actinobacteria , Bacillus , Herbaspirillum , and Rhizoctonia , and so forth, were continuously detected from N. lugens (Zhang, Tang, et al, ; Zhang, Yu, Xu, & Liu, ). S. furcifera was reported to harbor mostly Wolbachia and Cardinium , and then Pantoea agglomerans (Kang, ; Kittayapong et al, ; Lu, ; Nakamura, Yukuhiro, Matsumura, & Noda, ).…”

Migration dynamics of an important rice pest: the brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens) across Asia – insights from population genomics

“…Our results show that the Philippines is distinct from the mainland populations and there is very little migration between them. Insecticide resistance traits that evolve in the Philippines are less likely to spread to the mainland and vice-versa , as seems to be the case for imidacloprid (Pang et al . 2018).…”

“…Our results explain the difference reported between the Philippines and other populations in their resistance to imidacloprid (Matsumara et al ., 2008), as well as their relatively different responses to new rice varieties (Sogawa, 1992). Recently, a distinct strain of the planthopper endosymbiont, Arsenophonus , has been associated with imidacloprid resistance (Pang et al ., 2018). All susceptible insects in that study had a distinct strain of Arsenophonus and when this strain was transplanted into resistant individuals, they became susceptible.…”

“…All susceptible insects in that study had a distinct strain of Arsenophonus and when this strain was transplanted into resistant individuals, they became susceptible. This strain is found predominantly in the Philippines, although it was also detected at a lower frequency in the Chinese mainland province of Guangxi (Pang et al ., 2018). By showing that the Philippines population is distinct, with little evidence for migration between the Philippines and the Chinese mainland, our data explain the distribution of the susceptible and resistance related Arsenophonus strains, although the presence of a susceptible-related endosymbiont in Guanxi (China) in that study is most likely the result of rare immigration of Philippines planthoppers into mainland China.…”

An Overview of Embryogenesis: External Morphology and Transcriptome Profiling in the Hemipteran Insect Nilaparvata lugens

“…The total RNA from the embryos at each stage was extracted following the manufacturer's instructions for TRIzol Reagent (Invitrogen) and then was evaluated with a 2100 Bioanalyzer (Agilent Technologies) to estimate the purity and quality. The cDNA libraries were constructed as previously described (Pang et al, 2018). The concentration of the library was determined using a Qubit 3.0, and finally, we determined the effective concentration with the ABI Step One Plus Real-Time PCR system.…”