Nutritional Relationship between Bemisia tabaci and Its Primary Endosymbiont, Portiera aleyrodidarum, during Host Plant Acclimation

Abstract

Plant sap-sucking insects commonly have established mutualistic relationships with endosymbiotic bacteria that can provide nutrients lacking in their diet. Bemisia tabaci harbors one primary endosymbiont, Portiera aleyrodidarum, and up to seven secondary endosymbionts, including Hamiltonella defensa and Rickettsia sp. Portiera aleyrodidarum is already known to play a critical role in providing necessary nutrients for B. tabaci. In the present study, the relationship among B. tabaci, its primary endosymbiont, and the host plant were examined through the effects of host plant shifting and acclimation. Bemisia tabaci was transferred from Chinese kale to four different host plants, and the effects on both its performance and the expression levels of nutrient-related genes of P. aleyrodidarum were analyzed. The results showed that host shifting from Chinese kale to cotton plants led to a decrease in the performance of B. tabaci in the first generation, which was restored after 10 generations of acclimation. Furthermore, the expression levels of essential amino acid biosynthesis genes of P. aleyrodidarum were found to be differentially regulated after B. tabaci had acclimated to the cotton plants. Host plant shifting and acclimation to cucumber, poinsettia, and tomato plants did not affect the fecundity of B. tabaci and the expression levels of most examined genes. We speculate that P. aleyrodidarum may help B. tabaci improve its performance and acclimate to new hosts and that P. aleyrodidarum has a close nutritional relationship with its host during host plant acclimation.

Diversity of endosymbionts in camellia spiny whitefly, Aleurocanthus camelliae (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae), estimated by 16S rRNA analysis and their biological implications

“…Luan et al ( 2015 ) proved that Portiera , the primary symbiotic bacteria of Bemisia tabaci , was mainly involved in the nutrient metabolism of the host and could provide essential amino acids for the host. Previous studies have shown that Portiera may help whitefly improve their performance, and Portiera has a close nutritional relationship with their host during host plant acclimation (Hu and Tsai, 2020 ). The removal of Arsenophonus increased the developmental time of the immature stages and reduced the values of different life history parameters in Ommatissus lybicus (Karimi et al, 2019 ).…”

Characterization of Antennal Chemosensilla and Associated Chemosensory Genes in the Orange Spiny Whitefly, Aleurocanthus spiniferus (Quaintanca)

“…As phloem-feeding insects, whiteflies can be affected and even killed by the phytochemicals in plant phloem sap, such as amino acids, sugars and other metabolites ( Cui et al, 2017 ; Hasanuzzaman et al, 2018 ; Xia et al, 2021 ). To cope with this, whiteflies assess the suitability of a potential host plant and select the best plant as well as the best feeding region on the plant ( Döring, 2014 ; Cui et al, 2017 ; Hu and Tsai, 2020 ). For example, the content of phenolic glycosides and amino acids in cottonwood leaves varies with their developmental stage and its host aphid Chaitophorous populicola was able to detect the difference and to track the preferred leaf stages to optimize its feeding ( Gould et al, 2007 ).…”