The genus has long been recognized as a prolific and valuable source of diverse secondary metabolites. These metabolites contribute significantly to the intricate chemical diversity exhibited by , making them an indispensable reservoir for drug discovery, agricultural applications, and industrial processes. Exploiting the potential of these natural compounds holds the promise of ushering in a new era in insect pest management, reducing reliance on synthetic chemicals and fostering ecologically sustainable solutions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe mitochondrial genomes of D. melacanthus and D. furcatus were sequenced and used to investigate the phylogenetic relationships with 54 species of Pentatomidae.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnterococcus species have been described as core members of the microbial community of Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) and have been previously reported as insecticide degrading agents. This study aimed to investigate the molecular composition of these microbial symbionts of S. frugiperda to better understand their association with the host and their potential for insecticide metabolization.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPest Manag Sci
June 2023
Background: Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith) is a widespread agricultural pest with several records of resistance to different insecticides and Bt proteins, including the neurotoxic insecticides chlorpyrifos (organophosphate) and lambda-cyhalothrin (pyrethroid).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Neotropical brown stink bug, Euschistus heros, is a major pest of soybean in South America. The importance of E. heros as a pest has grown significantly in recent times due to increases in its abundance and range, and the evolution of insecticide resistance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas) is one the causative agents of greening disease in citrus, an unccurable, devastating disease of citrus worldwide. CLas is vectored by Diaphorina citri, and the understanding of the molecular interplay between vector and pathogen will provide additional basis for the development and implementation of successful management strategies. We focused in the molecular interplay occurring in the gut of the vector, a major barrier for CLas invasion and colonization.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Asian citrus psyllid, , is the vector of the bacterium " Liberibacter asiaticus" (Las), associated with the devastating, worldwide citrus disease huanglongbing. In order to explore the molecular interactions of this bacterium with during the vector acquisition process, cDNA libraries were sequenced on an Illumina platform, obtained from the gut of adult psyllids confined in healthy (H) and in Las-infected young shoots (Las) for different periods of times (I = 1/2 days, II = 3/4 days, and III = 5/6 days). In each sampling time, three biological replicates were collected, containing 100 guts each, totaling 18 libraries depleted in ribosomal RNA.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEndogenous viruses form an important proportion of eukaryote genomes and a source of novel functions. How large DNA viruses integrated into a genome evolve when they confer a benefit to their host, however, remains unknown. Bracoviruses are essential for the parasitism success of parasitoid wasps, into whose genomes they integrated ~103 million years ago.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFKoinobiont parasitoids regulate the physiology of their hosts, possibly interfering with the host gut microbiota and ultimately impacting parasitoid development. We used the parasitoid Cotesia flavipes to investigate if the regulation of the host would also affect the host gut microbiota. We also wondered if the effects of parasitization on the gut microbiota would depend on the host-parasitoid association by testing the permissive Diatraea saccharalis and the non-permissive Spodoptera frugiperda hosts.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFKoinobiont endoparasitoid wasps regulate the host's physiology to their own benefit during their growth and development, using maternal, immature and/or derived-tissue weaponry. The tools used to subdue the wasps' hosts interfere directly with host transcription activity. The broad range of host tissues and pathways affected impedes our overall understanding of the host-regulation process during parasitoid development.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInsects are a highly diverse group, exploit a wide range of habitats, and harbor bacterial symbionts of largely unknown diversity. Insect-associated bacterial symbionts are underexplored but promising sources of bioactive compounds. The community of culturable bacteria associated with the leaf-cutting ant Acromyrmex coronatus (Fabricius) and the diversity of their metabolites produced were investigated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGlobal warming may impact biodiversity by disrupting biological interactions, including long-term insect-microbe mutualistic associations. Symbiont-mediated insect tolerance to high temperatures is an ecologically important trait that significantly influences an insect's life history. Disruption of microbial symbionts that are required by insects would substantially impact their pest status.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSymbionts are widely distributed in eukaryotes, and potentially affect the physiology, ecology and evolution of their host. Most insects harbour free-living bacteria in their haemocoel and gut lumen, intracellular-living bacteria in a range of tissues or bacteria in host-derived specialized cells. Stinkbugs, as do many arthropods, harbour extracellular bacteria in the gut that may affect the fitness of their host.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe applied the ddRAD genotyping-by-sequencing technique to investigate the genetic distinctiveness of Brazilian populations of the noctuid moth Spodoptera frugiperda, the fall armyworm (FAW), and the role of host-plant association as a source of genetic diversification. By strain-genotyping all field-collected individuals we found that populations collected from corn were composed primarily of corn-strain individuals, while the population collected from rice was composed almost entirely of rice-strain individuals. Outlier analyses indicated 1,184 loci putatively under selection (ca.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBacterial symbionts are broadly distributed among insects, influencing their bioecology to different degrees. Aphids carry a number of secondary symbionts that can influence aphid physiology and fitness attributes. Spiroplasma is seldom reported as an aphid symbiont, but a high level of infection has been observed in one population of the tropical aphid Aphis citricidus.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The demand for sustainable agricultural practices and the limited progress toward newer and safer chemicals for use in pest control maintain the impetus for research and identification of new natural molecules. Natural molecules are preferable to synthetic organic molecules because they are biodegradable, have low toxicity, are often selective and can be applied at low concentrations. Microbes are one source of natural insecticides, and microbial insect symbionts have attracted attention as a source of new bioactive molecules because these microbes are exposed to various selection pressures in their association with insects.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe exploration of new niches for microorganisms capable of degrading recalcitrant molecules is still required. We hypothesized the gut microbiota associated with insect-resistant lines carry pesticide degrading bacteria, and predicted they carry bacteria selected to degrade pesticides they were resistant to. We isolated and accessed the pesticide-degrading capacity of gut bacteria from the gut of fifth instars of Spodoptera frugiperda strains resistant to lambda-cyhalothrin, deltamethrin, chlorpyrifos ethyl, spinosad and lufenuron, using insecticide-selective media.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAphids are well known for their association with endosymbiont bacteria. Almost all aphids harbor Buchnera aphidicola as an obligate symbiont and several other bacteria as facultative symbionts. Associations of facultative symbionts and aphids are quite variable in terms of diversity and prevalence across aphid species.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The evolution of insecticide resistance in Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) has resulted in large economic losses and disturbances to the environment and agroecosystems. Resistance to lufenuron, a chitin biosynthesis inhibitor insecticide, was recently documented in Brazilian populations of S. frugiperda.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIchnoviruses are large dsDNA viruses that belong to the Polydnaviridae family. They are specifically associated with endoparasitic wasps of the family Ichneumonidae and essential for host parasitization by these wasps. We sequenced the Hyposoter didymator Ichnovirus (HdIV) encapsidated genome for further analysis of the transcription pattern of the entire set of HdIV genes following the parasitization of four different lepidopteran host species.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFParasitoids exploit host insects for food and other resources; they alter host development and physiology to optimize conditions to favor parasitoid development. Parasitoids influence their hosts by injecting eggs, along with a variety of substances, including venoms, polydnaviruses, ovarian fluids, and other maternal factors, into hosts. These factors induce profound changes in hosts, such as behavior, metabolism, endocrine events, and immune defense.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe infection density of symbionts is among the major parameters to understand their biological effects in host-endosymbionts interactions. Diaphorina citri harbors two bacteriome-associated bacterial endosymbionts (Candidatus Carsonella ruddii and Candidatus Profftella armatura), besides the intracellular reproductive parasite Wolbachia. In this study, the density dynamics of the three endosymbionts associated with the psyllid D.
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