Effects of antibiotics on fitness of the B biotype and a non‐B biotype of the whitefly Bemisia tabaci

Abstract

The whitefly, Bemisia tabaci Gennadius (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae), harbors primary and secondary endosymbionts. Previous research showed that the invasive B biotype and an indigenous non‐B biotype (named non‐B ZHJ‐1 population) of B. tabaci from Zhejiang, China, harbored different endosymbionts. To investigate the function of these endosymbionts in the two biotypes of B. tabaci, we fed adult whiteflies with three antibiotics, tetracycline, ampicillin trihydrate, and rifampicin, and evaluated the fitness of their offspring on cotton plants. These three antibiotics did not remove the primary endosymbiont Portiera aleyrodidarum but were capable of eliminating the secondary endosymbionts. In the B biotype, treatments of adults with tetracycline or ampicillin trihydrate accelerated development and increased the survival of their offspring, while treatment of adults with rifampicin significantly retarded the development of their offspring but did not affect their survival. In the non‐B ZHJ‐1 population, treatments of adults with tetracycline or ampicillin trihydrate also accelerated the development of their offspring but did not significantly affect their survival, while treatment of adults with rifampicin significantly retarded development and reduced the survival of their offspring. These results suggest that removal of some secondary endosymbionts and/or reduction of the primary endosymbiont from B. tabaci may produce both favorable and unfavorable effects on the fitness of the host insects.

Insect symbiont facilitates vector acquisition, retention and transmission of plant virus

“…Antibiotic treatments were administered using Parafilm-membrane sachets for direct feeding by adults in a feeding chamber5051. The control diet solution was 5 mM phosphate buffer (pH 7.0) with 25% sucrose, while the antibiotic diet was the same solution with the addition of 50 μg/ml rifampicin (Amersco, no.…”

The Endosymbiont Arsenophonus Is Widespread in Soybean Aphid, Aphis glycines, but Does Not Provide Protection from Parasitoids or a Fungal Pathogen

“…Antibiotic was fed into a borosilicate microinjection needle attached to a syringe via tubing. Fourth-instar aphids were injected with 1.0 mg ml −1 ampicillin solution [62]. Arsenophonus is susceptible to ampicillin, but the aphid's primary symbiont, Buchnera aphidicola , is not [63].…”

RNA interference-mediated knockdown of the hydroxyacid-oxoacid transhydrogenase gene decreases thiamethoxam resistance in adults of the whitefly Bemisia tabaci

“…The control diet solution was 5% yeast extract, 30% sucrose (wt/vol) and dsGFP (0.5 μg/μL), and the treatment diet was the same basic solution with the addition of dsHOT (0.5 μg/μL). Approximately 40 newly emerged adults (mixed sexes) were introduced into each feeding chamber, which were placed in an environmental chamber (Panasonic MLR-352H, Gunma, Japan) at 25 °C, a photoperiod of L14 : D10, and 80% RH3435.…”