The influence of temperature and host gender on bacterial communities in the asian citrus psyllid

Rui Xu Jiang, Feng Shang, Hong Bo Jiang, Wei Dou, Tomislav Cernava, Jin Jun Wang*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The Asian citrus psyllid, D. citri Kuwayama is the primary vector for Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas), which causes a destructive disease in citrus plants. Bacterial symbionts are important determinants of insect physiology, and they can be impacted by many external factors. Temperature is an important abiotic factor affecting insect physiology, and it is also known that differences in symbiont proportions may vary in different insect genders. To date, it is unclear how the symbionts of D. citri are affected by temperature and gender. This study used high-throughput sequencing of 16S ribosomal RNA amplicons to determine how temperature and gender affect the bacterial communities present in D. citri. We identified 27 amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) belonging to 10 orders, seven classes, and five phyla. The dominant phylum was Proteobacteria (99.93%). Other phyla, including Firmicutes, Bacteroidota, Deinococcota, Cyanobacteria, and Actinobacteriota, were less abundant (<0.1%). Profftella (71.77–81.59%) and Wolbachia (18.39–28.22%) were the predominant taxa in all samples. Under high-temperature treatment, Profftella was more common in females, while Wolbachia had a higher abundance in males. In males, Profftella was more abundant under low-temperature treatments than under high-temperature treatments. In contrast, Wolbachia showed a higher abundance under high-temperature treatments than under low-temperature treatments. An RT-qPCR (quantitative real-time PCR) approach confirmed the results obtained with high-throughput DNA sequencing. Our results provide a basis for understanding the co-adaptation of D. citri and its symbionts to environmental temperature stress.

Original languageEnglish
Article number1054
JournalInsects
Volume12
Issue number12
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2021

Keywords

  • 16S sequencing
  • Diaphorina citri
  • Symbionts
  • Temperature

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Insect Science

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'The influence of temperature and host gender on bacterial communities in the asian citrus psyllid'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this