Special Plant Species Determines Diet Breadth of Phytophagous Insects: A Study on Host Plant Expansion of the Host-Specialized Aphis gossypii Glover

Wu, Wei; Liang, Xin; Zhao, Hongbo; Xu, Ting; Liu, Xiangdong

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0060832

Cited by 17 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…The cotton-melon aphids on primary hosts can transfer onto zucchini 22, 32 . During summer, aphids could transfer between cotton and zucchini 14 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Refuges and host shift pathways of host-specialized aphids Aphis gossypii

Liu

Lei

2017

Sci Rep

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Polyphagous cotton-melon aphid populations usually comprise cotton- and cucurbit-specialized biotypes. Host-specialized aphids are prone to food shortages. Cucumber, the favourite food of cucurbit-specialized aphids, is usually absent during autumn and winter in Nanjing, China. Therefore, suboptimal host plants act as refuges and govern the population dynamics of this aphid. The species, growth stages and leaf ages of host plants that cotton- and cucurbit-specialized aphids potentially could use were explored in this study. Cotton-specialized aphids were found to use wild chrysanthemum, potato, zucchini, pumpkin and flowering cucumber besides cotton, whilst cucurbit-specialized aphids were able to utilize potato, zucchini, pumpkin and mature cotton besides cucumber. The population dynamics and genotype frequencies of aphids on hibiscus, cotton, zucchini, cucumber and pumpkin showed that cotton-melon aphids on cucumber could transfer onto mature cotton. Aphids on zucchini shared microsatellite genotypes with aphids on cotton and cucumber. The predominant genotype of aphids on cotton was found on hibiscus, but the predominant genotype on cucumber was not found on hibiscus. Host-specialized aphids clearly have refuges during food shortages. Hibiscus is an overwintering host for cotton-specialized aphids but not for cucurbit-aphids. Removing refuges or managing aphids on refuges could potentially be an effective method to control cotton-melon aphids.

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“…The cotton-melon aphids on primary hosts can transfer onto zucchini 22, 32 . During summer, aphids could transfer between cotton and zucchini 14 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Refuges and host shift pathways of host-specialized aphids Aphis gossypii

Liu

Lei

2017

Sci Rep

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“…Here, we found that the densities of Buchnera in aphids from populations maintained on cucumber were significantly higher than those in aphids maintained on cotton. However, when aphids from the cotton populations were reared on zucchini for five generations and those from the cucumber populations were reared on cowpea for one generation, they were able to use the new plant host, which suggests an expansion in diet width (37). When cotton population aphids were reared on zucchini, Buchnera densities significantly increased and approached the level in aphids from the cucumber populations.…”

Section: Host Plant Affects Endosymbiont Population Density In Aphidsmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…The taxon Aphis gossypii (like the pea aphid) is composed of a series of host plant races or biotypes that are to various degrees specialized on different host plant groups. Those associated with cotton and cucurbits are the most widespread and agriculturally important (35)(36)(37).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Experimental aphids. Cultures of clones of A. gossypii collected on cotton and cucumber were reared for 12 years on these host plants in growth chambers at 24 Ϯ 1°C with a 14 h/10 h light/dark cycle and relative humidity (RH) of 70 to 80% (37). The cultures were founded from aphids collected in agricultural fields in July 2001 in Nanjing and subsequently maintained as asexual lineages.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Host Plant Determines the Population Size of an Obligate Symbiont (Buchnera aphidicola) in Aphids

Zhang

Cao

Zhong

et al. 2016

Appl Environ Microbiol

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bBuchnera aphidicola is an obligate endosymbiont that provides aphids with several essential nutrients. Though much is known about aphid-Buchnera interactions, the effect of the host plant on Buchnera population size remains unclear. Here we used quantitative PCR (qPCR) techniques to explore the effects of the host plant on Buchnera densities in the cotton-melon aphid, Aphis gossypii. Buchnera titers were significantly higher in populations that had been reared on cucumber for over 10 years than in populations maintained on cotton for a similar length of time. Aphids collected in the wild from hibiscus and zucchini harbored more Buchnera symbionts than those collected from cucumber and cotton. The effect of aphid genotype on the population size of Buchnera depended on the host plant upon which they fed. When aphids from populations maintained on cucumber or cotton were transferred to novel host plants, host survival and Buchnera population size fluctuated markedly for the first two generations before becoming relatively stable in the third and later generations. Host plant extracts from cucumber, pumpkin, zucchini, and cowpea added to artificial diets led to a significant increase in Buchnera titers in the aphids from the population reared on cotton, while plant extracts from cotton and zucchini led to a decrease in Buchnera titers in the aphids reared on cucumber. Gossypol, a secondary metabolite from cotton, suppressed Buchnera populations in populations from both cotton and cucumber, while cucurbitacin from cucurbit plants led to higher densities. Together, the results suggest that host plants influence Buchnera population processes and that this may provide phenotypic plasticity in host plant use for clonal aphids.A phids harbor two types of bacterial endosymbionts: the obligate symbiont Buchnera aphidicola, which occurs in almost all aphids, and facultative bacteria belonging to a variety of taxa that are not essential for aphid survival and typically are found in some but not all individuals of a population (1-3). The association between Buchnera and aphids was established 80 to 150 million years ago (4), and because transmission is strictly maternal, bacteria and host phylogenies are perfectly congruent. Buchnera is essential for the aphid, and if the symbiont is experimentally removed, the host grows very slowly and cannot reproduce (5-7). Buchnera synthesizes essential amino acids and other substances that are absent in the aphid's phloem diet (1,(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13) and is active in purine metabolism (14, 15). The symbiont's activities can be disrupted by heat shock, and it has been shown that variation in the promoter of a Buchnera heat shock gene impacts aphid thermal tolerance (16,17). The genome of Buchnera is much smaller than those of its free-living relatives (18, 19) and in many ways it now resembles an organelle, highly integrated within the physiology of its host.Densities of Buchnera (as measured by quantitative PCR [qPCR] relative to the host) are affected by host age and genotype and by ...

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“…Cucurbit-specialized Ando et al, 1992;Meng & Li, 2001;Wu et al, 2013 Cotton 2008; Liu & Gao, 2010). In Europe, the reproductive mode of A. gossypii was considered to be exclusively parthenogenetic (Fuller et al, 1999;Blackman & Eastop, 2000).…”

Section: Population Establishment Difficultmentioning

confidence: 99%

How does the host‐specialized aphid deal with food deficiency?

Liu

2014

Insect Science

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Aphis gossypii Glover shows obvious host specialization, with cucurbit- and cotton-specialized biotypes or host races in many regions. Because its annual natal host crops senesce earlier the cucurbit-specialized biotype may suffer food deficiency. The method this biotype uses to overcome this challenge is still poorly understood. In order to understand the potential of the cucurbit-specialized biotype aphids in host shift and usage, the performance of this biotype on cotton (Gossypium hirsutum), a common but poor quality host plant, was explored in this study. The cucurbit-specialized aphids could establish populations on cotton only when these plants had at least nine leaves, and subsequent populations developed rather slowly. The presence of whitefly populations on cotton improved the success rate of cucurbit-specialized aphids. The cucurbit-specialized aphids were mainly distributed on the older leaves of cotton, with only a few settling on the upper leaves. The cucurbit-specialized aphids reared on cotton for 40, 54 and 61 days still maintained strong preference for their natal host plant, cucumber (Cucumis sativus), rather than cotton, and their net reproductive rates and intrinsic rates of natural increase were dramatically lower when they were transferred onto new six-leaf cotton plants or detached leaves. Therefore, we concluded that the cucurbit-specialized aphids have the potential to utilize mature or whitefly-stressed cotton plants, but that this feeding experience on cotton did not alter their specialization for cucurbits. Some cotton plants could act as a temporary host for the cucurbit-specialized aphids to overcome food deficiency arising from senescing cucurbits.

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Special Plant Species Determines Diet Breadth of Phytophagous Insects: A Study on Host Plant Expansion of the Host-Specialized Aphis gossypii Glover

Cited by 17 publications

References 42 publications

Refuges and host shift pathways of host-specialized aphids Aphis gossypii

Refuges and host shift pathways of host-specialized aphids Aphis gossypii

Host Plant Determines the Population Size of an Obligate Symbiont (Buchnera aphidicola) in Aphids

How does the host‐specialized aphid deal with food deficiency?

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