Wolbachia infection dynamics in a natural population of the pear psyllid Cacopsylla pyri (Hemiptera: Psylloidea) across its seasonal generations

Abstract

Wolbachia is one of the most abundant intracellular symbionts of arthropods and has profound effects on host biology. Wolbachia transmission and host phenotypes often depend on its density within the host, which can be affected by multiple biotic and abiotic factors. However, very few studies measured Wolbachia density in natural host populations. Here, we describe Wolbachia in the pear psyllid Cacopsylla pyri from three populations in the Czech Republic. Using phylogenetic analyses based on wsp and multilocus sequence typing genes, we demonstrate that C. pyri harbours three new Wolbachia strains from supergroup B. A fourth Wolbachia strain from supergroup A was also detected in parasitised immatures of C. pyri, but likely came from a hymenopteran parasitoid. To obtain insights into natural Wolbachia infection dynamics, we quantified Wolbachia in psyllid individuals from the locality with the highest prevalence across an entire year, spanning several seasonal generations of the host. All tested females were infected and Wolbachia density remained stable across the entire period, suggesting a highly efficient vertical transmission and little influence from the environment and different host generations. In contrast, we observed a tendency towards reduced Wolbachia density in males which may suggest sex-related differences in Wolbachia-psyllid interactions.

Till evolution do us part: The diversity of symbiotic associations across populations of Philaenus spittlebugs

“…To our knowledge, we may be the first to show the additional signal of parasitoids in the COI amplicon sequencing data for wild insects and at the same time, its contribution to the overall endosymbiotic signal in microbial community profiles. Although there were studies suggesting additional Wolbachia strain as parasitoid origin combining obtained molecular data with previous findings of parasitism (Štarhová Serbina et al, 2022) we are firmly confident that we provided a ‘smoking gun’ evidence for such phenomenon. We obtained information about the parasitoid's presence, abundance and mitochondrial genotype alongside information on the mitochondrial diversity of the host.…”

“…It is clear that molecular methods have opened up new avenues for studying host-parasitoid interactions, with tools such as diagnostic PCR and qPCR assays and sequencing parasitoid marker genes unravelling interaction dynamics and cryptic diversity (Hrček & Godfray, 2015). We argue that COI gene amplicon sequencing shows particular promise as a way of simultaneously obtaining information about the presence of parasitoids alongside their genetic diversity ( Šigut et al, 2017;Sow et al, 2019).…”

Unveiling metabolic integration in psyllids and their nutritional endosymbionts through comparative transcriptomics analysis

“… 23 , 24 Both psyllid species also harbor Wolbachia , 25 , 26 one of the most prevalent facultative endosymbionts of arthropods, 27 including psyllids. 26 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 The impact of Wolbachia on the nutritional metabolism of the psyllid host-symbiont relationship is also currently unknown. Therefore, It is of significant interest to investigate the following questions: 1) To what extent are gene expression patterns conserved between D. citri and B. cockerelli bacteriomes for psyllid homologs that collaborate with Carsonella ?, 2) Are there species-specific gene expression patterns within D. citri and B. cockerelli bacteriomes, suggesting divergence in their nutritional symbioses?, and 3) Do psyllid bacteriomes exhibit distinct gene expression patterns for homologs with multiple gene copies, such as the horizontally transferred genes (HTGs) predicted to collaborate with Carsonella ?…”

Grove-level analysis of titer and prevalence of “CandidatusLiberibacter asiaticus” andWolbachiainDiaphorina citri,vector of citrus Huanglongbing

“…The effect of wDi titer on C Las in D. citri is still uncertain, and there was no effect of sex on wDi or C Las observed in this study. However, in a related psyllid, Cacopsylla pyri (pear psyllid) studied by Serbina et al (Serbina et al 2022), wDi titer was reduced in males. Several lab studies investigated interactions among wDi, D. citri and C Las.…”

“…However, in a related psyllid, Cacopsylla pyri (pear psyllid) studied by Serbina et al (Serbina et al 2022), wDi titer was reduced in males. Several lab studies investigated interactions among wDi, D. citri and CLas.…”