Endomycobiome associated with females of the planthopper Delphacodes kuscheli (Hemiptera: Delphacidae): A metabarcoding approach

Abstract

A metabarcoding approach was performed aimed at identifying fungi associated with Delphacodes kuscheli (Hemiptera: Delphacidae), the main vector of “Mal de Río Cuarto” disease in Argentina. A total of 91 fungal genera were found, and among them, 24 were previously identified for Delphacidae. The detection of fungi that are frequently associated with the phylloplane or are endophytes, as well as their presence in digestive tracts of other insects, suggest that feeding might be an important mechanism of their horizontal transfer in planthoppers. This study draws the baseline for future research regarding mutualistic associations present in D. kuscheli as well as their physiological role in the life cycle of this important pest that might lead to developing new management strategies to keep insects populations under control.

A Snapshot Picture of the Fungal Composition of Bee Bread in Four Locations in Bulgaria, Differing in Anthropogenic Influence

“…Until now, Toxicocladosporium genus has never been reported to be associated with bee products and bees. Members of the genus were found in many different environments such as soils [56], marine waters [57], household air conditioners [58], bronchoalveolar lavage fluid [59], different plants [60,61], and even in insects-in the planthopper gut [62] and the Thitarodes larvae hemolymph [63]. However, members of this genus have never been established as strict pathogens of the plant and animal species where they thrive.…”

Airborne Fungi in Show Caves from Southern Spain

“…Naganishia species are ubiquitous saprophytic yeasts, frequently isolated from different environments, and can behave as opportunistic pathogens [40]. Naganishia diffluens was found in Gruta de las Maravillas (Sala del Lago 2) in autumn and winter, and this and other yeasts were associated with insects [41].…”

Diversity and Functions of Yeast Communities Associated with Insects

“…The diversity of yeast communities was mostly studied for insect species with a major impact on humans and their environment such as crop auxiliaries (lacewings) [ 44 , 45 ], pollinators (bees, bumblebees, fruit flies, or floricolous beetles) [ 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 ], plant pests (moths, planthoppers, bark beetles) [ 6 , 50 , 51 , 52 ] and pathogen vectors (mosquitoes, sandflies) [ 53 , 54 , 55 ]. Yeast communities associated with insects were identified either from entire insect bodies, which were previously surface-sterilized [ 51 , 55 ] or not [ 48 , 49 ], or from dissected organs [ 13 , 50 , 56 ] using culture-dependent [ 49 , 57 , 58 ] and independent approaches [ 59 , 60 ]. Independent cultural approaches usually involved DNA extractions from insect tissues followed by the amplification of taxonomic markers allowing a discrimination at the genus or species level, such as the Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) regions and the D1/D2 region of 26S ribosomal DNA.…”

“…Depending on the insect order, the composition of associated-yeast communities was not equally analyzed for all developmental stages ( Table S1 ). While only larvae were studied for Lepidoptera [ 50 , 65 ], the adult stage was preferentially analyzed for many other insect orders [ 41 , 51 , 55 , 66 , 67 , 68 ]. However, for some species belonging to several insect groups, such as mosquitoes [ 53 ], bark or sap beetles [ 6 , 69 ], and planthoppers [ 64 ], all life stages were analyzed and the presence of yeast species was detected at all developmental stages ( Table S1 ).…”