Identification of Aphis gossypii Glover (Hemiptera: Aphididae) Biotypes from Different Host Plants in North China

Abstract

BackgroundThe cotton-melon aphid, Aphis gossypii Glover (Hemiptera: Aphididae), is a polyphagous species with a worldwide distribution and a variety of biotypes. North China is a traditional agricultural area with abundant winter and summer hosts of A. gossypii. While the life cycles of A. gossypii on different plants have been well studied, those of the biotypes of North China are still unclear.ResultsHost transfer experiments showed that A. gossypii from North China has two host-specialized biotypes: cotton and cucumber. Based on complete mitochondrial sequences, we identified a molecular marker with five single-nucleotide polymorphisms to distinguish the biotypes. Using this marker, a large-scale study of biotypes on primary winter and summer hosts was conducted. All A. gossypii collected from three primary hosts—hibiscus, pomegranate, and Chinese prickly ash—were cotton biotypes, with more cotton-melon aphids found on hibiscus than the other two species. In May, alate cotton and cucumber biotypes coexisted on cotton and cucumber seedlings, but each preferred its natal host. Both biotypes existed on zucchini, although the cucumber biotype was more numerous. Aphids on muskmelon were all cucumber biotypes, whereas most aphids on kidney bean were cotton biotypes. Aphids on seedlings of potato and cowpea belong to other species. In August, aphids on cotton and cucumber were the respective biotypes, with zucchini still hosting both biotypes as before. Thus, the biotypes had different fitnesses on different host plants.ConclusionsTwo host-specialized biotypes (cotton and cucumber) are present in North China. Hibiscus, pomegranate, and Chinese prickly ash can serve as winter hosts for the cotton biotype but not the cucumber biotype in North China. The fitnesses of the two host-specialized biotypes differ on various summer hosts. When alate aphids migrate to summer hosts, they cannot accurately land on the corresponding plant.

Genetic diversity of melon aphids Aphis gossypii associated with landscape features

“…We did not measure the nearest distance of primary host plants from where aphids migrated. It has been reported that many plant species serve as primary hosts in North China, such as Hibiscus syriacus (hibiscus), Punica granatum (pomegranate), and Zanthoxylum simulans (Chinese prickly ash) (Wang et al., ). Moreover, these primary hosts are seldom planted in large areas.…”

“…In contrast to the populations with an incomplete life cycle (or anholocycle), holocycle populations sexually reproduce. Evidence for high genetic diversity associated with sexual reproduction of A. gossypii has been found in China (Wang et al, 2016), France (Thomas, Boissot, & Vanlerberghe-Masutti, 2012), and Iran (Razmjou, Vorburger, Moharramipour, Mirhoseini, & Fathipour, 2010). In addition, other factors such as insecticide selection pressure and competition can also affect genetic diversity (Brévault, Carletto, Linderme, & Vanlerberghe-Masutti, 2008;Brévault, Carletto, Tribot, & Vanlerberghe-Masutti, 2011;Carletto, Martin, Vanlerberghe-Masutti, & Brévault, 2010;Fuller et al, 1999).…”

The damage risk evaluation of Aphis gossypii on wheat by host shift and fitness comparison in wheat and cotton

“…This is possibly due to the fact that wheat is planted in fall/winter and harvested in summer in China (Ma et al 2006). Moreover, the reproduction mode of A. gossypii is sexual in fall/winter when their major hosts are Hibiscus syriacus (hibiscus), Punica granatum (pomegranate), and Zanthoxylum simulans (Chinese prickly ash) (Liu et al 2014;Wang et al 2016). Thus, we speculate that wheat is just a short-term host of asexual females early in summer when wheat is in a mature period and lacks adequate nutrition for aphids.…”

“…In many areas of northern China, cotton-wheat intercropping is an important cultural model beside monoculture cotton fields (Wang et al 2016). Winter wheat is sown from early-to mid-October with a designated row A l x f (x, 5) m x l x m x Survival rate (%) Survival rate (%) Fig.…”

Soybean aphid biotype 1 genome: Insights into the invasive biology and adaptive evolution of a major agricultural pest

“…glycines uses the soybean plant as a summer host and a few species in the genus Rhamnus as the overwintering host, while Ap. gossypii utilizes over 900 species of plants (Blackman and Eastop, 1984;Carletto et al, 2009;Wang et al, 2016). Despite its widespread distribution and highly polyphagous nature the cotton aphid has the smallest genome of the currently available aphid genome assemblies and was found to have the lowest number of private genes (Quan et al, 2019).…”