Diversity of bacterial symbionts associated with Myzus persicae (Sulzer) (Hemiptera: Aphididae: Aphidinae) revealed by 16S rRNA Illumina sequencing

Abstract

Aphids are known to be associated with a variety of symbiotic bacteria. To improve our knowledge of the bacterial diversity of polyphagous aphids, in the present study, we investigated the microbiota of the cosmopolitan agricultural pest Myzus persicae (Sulzer). Ninety-two aphid samples collected from different host plants in various regions of China were examined using high-throughput amplicon sequencing. We comprehensively characterized the symbiont diversity of M. persicae and assessed the variations in aphid-associated symbiont communities. We detected a higher diversity of symbionts than has been previously observed. M. persicae hosted the primary endosymbiont Buchnera aphidicola and seven secondary symbionts, among which Wolbachia was the most prevalent and Rickettsia, Arsenophonus, and Spiroplasma were reported for the first time. Ordination analyses and statistical tests revealed that the symbiont flora associated with M. persicae did not change with respect to host plant or geography, which may be due to frequent migrations between different aphid populations. These findings will advance our knowledge of the microbiota of polyphagous insects and will enrich our understanding of assembly of host-microbiome systems.

Dynamic changes in species richness and community diversity of symbiotic bacteria in five reproductive morphs of cotton aphid Aphis gossypii Glover (Hemiptera: Aphididae)

“…Compared with other four reproductive morphs, males displayed higher relative abundance of Actinobacteria (6.38%), Bacteroidetes (0.92%), Firmicutes (0.62%), Saccharibacteria (0.29%), and Cyanobacteria (0.025%; Supplementary Table S2 ). Our data showed that Proteobacteria was the most dominant phylum at all the cotton aphid taxonomic levels, which was consistent with several previous reports on other aphid species such as Myzus persicae , and Sitobion avenae ( Alkhedir et al, 2015 ; Xu et al, 2021 ). The relative abundance of these bacterial phyla except Proteobacteria was all significantly higher in males than in other four reproductive morphs of A .…”

Microbiome Structure of the Aphid Myzus persicae (Sulzer) Is Shaped by Different Solanaceae Plant Diets

“…This is in line with recent findings of Xu et al (2019) that assessed the microbiome of Aphis gossypii (Hemiptera: Aphididae) and found clear indications that it was affected by its host plants. In contrast, previous field studies conducted with M. persicae feeding on different plants did not show significant differences in the aphid’s microbiome composition ( Xu S. et al, 2021 ). This is most likely due to the described migration of the aphids.…”

Phylosymbiotic Structures of the Microbiota in Mollitrichosiphum tenuicorpus (Hemiptera: Aphididae: Greenideinae)

“…Spiroplasma was detected for the first time in Mollitrichosiphum aphids, although its relative abundance was low. Spiroplasma has been reported in few aphid groups, including Aphis gossypii [ 16 ], Myzus persicae [ 81 ], Aphis citricidus [ 82 ], and some species in Eriosomatinae [ 45 ]. The prevalence of Spiroplasma may be underestimated in other aphids due to the low titers.…”