Molecular Characterization of Wolbachia Strains Associated with the Invasive Asian Citrus Psyllid Diaphorina citri in Brazil

Abstract

Wolbachia is a symbiont intensively studied due to its ability to interfere with their host's reproduction, and it has been recently proposed as an alternative tool to control insect pests or vectors of diseases. The Asian citrus psyllid Diaphorina citri is an important pest of citrus since it vectors the bacterium that causes the "Huanglongbing" disease in citrus. The frequency and diversity of Wolbachia associated with D. citri is unknown, limiting the utilization of Wolbachia as an alternative strategy for insect management. Thus, we aimed to determine the natural rate of infection, to characterize the Wolbachia strains associated with this psyllid by "multilocus sequencing typing" (MLST) and wsp analysis, and to verify the association of the symbiont to particular genotypes of the host. Analysis indicated Wolbachia infects 100 % of all specimens tested from all 15 sampled populations. MLST revealed the occurrence of five new sequence types (STs) of Wolbachia, while analysis based on the wsp sequences indicated only four different types of Wolbachia. ST-173 was predominant, while the remaining STs were population specific. Analysis of the host-symbiont relationship did not reveal any particular association of Wolbachia and haplotypes or a decrease in nucleotide diversity of D. citri in populations in which more than one ST was recorded. The consequences of the diversity of STs reported are still unknown, but the fact that Wolbachia infection is fixed and that there is one ST with a broad distribution highlights the use of this symbiont as an alternative strategy to control D. citri.

A Small Wolbachia Protein Directly Represses Phage Lytic Cycle Genes in “ Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus” within Psyllids

“…Given the ubiquitous prevalence of Wolbachia across all psyllids analyzed in Florida (21) and Brazil (22), it is highly likely that the inherent (primary and secondary) microbial communities of D. citri affect acquisition, establishment, and also transmission of “ Ca . Liberibacter asiaticus.” However, the data on the population dynamics of “ Ca .…”

Population Dynamics and Growth Rates of Endosymbionts During Diaphorina citri (Hemiptera, Liviidae) Ontogeny

“…Wolbachia infects several tissues of this psyllid [FLC unpublished] and infection is fixed in D. citri populations in Brazil [58], suggesting this symbiont may act more than a reproductive parasite in this system, as there are examples in which Wolbachia is required for host egg development [17] and for metabolic provisioning [71].…”

“…The primers were designed to target the 16S rRNA gene sequences of Carsonella [57] and Profftella (Salvador and Cônsoli, unpublished data-GenBank accession number: EU570830. 1), and the ftsZ gene of Wolbachia [58] ( Table 1).…”

Protein interaction networks at the host–microbe interface inDiaphorina citri, the insect vector of the citrus greening pathogen

“…A mass spectrometry-compatible protein cross-linker was used to identify protein interaction networks including ACP, CLas and endosymbiont proteins [18,19]. Three major bacterial endosymbionts associated with the ACP have been identified, with proposed functions in defence, nutritional supplementation and reproductive manipulation, respectively: ‘ Candidatus Profftella armatura’ [20,21], ‘ Candidatus Carsonella rudii’ [22] and Wolbachia [23,24]. Nutritional interactions between hemipteran insects and their microbial endosymbionts are critical to the insect's adaptation to a phloem sap diet, and metabolic interdependency between symbionts and the insect host has led to a dramatic reduction in symbiont genome size and specialization of metabolic capabilities [21,22,25].…”