The growth and reproduction of phloem sap-feeding insects requires the sustained function of intracellular bacteria localized in specialized cells known as bacteriocytes, giving the potential to target the bacterial symbiosis as a novel strategy for controlling sap-feeding insect pests. We focused on two genes in the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum, amiD and ldcA1, which were acquired horizontally from bacteria and have the annotated function to degrade immunogenic bacterial peptidoglycan. We hypothesized that AmiD and LdcA1 function to eliminate peptidoglycan fragments released by the bacterial symbiont Buchnera inhabiting the bacteriocytes, thereby protecting the Buchnera from host attack. Consistent with this hypothesis, expression of amiD and ldcA1 was enriched in bacteriocytes and varied significantly with aphid age, conforming to an inverse curvilinear relationship for amiD and negative linear relationship for ldcA1. RNAi against amiD and ldcA1 administered orally to larval pea aphids caused a significant reduction in Buchnera abundance and activity, accompanied by depressed aphid growth rates. For RNAi experiments, the aphids were co-administered with dsRNA against an aphid nuclease nuc1, protecting the dsRNA against non-specific degradation. These experiments demonstrate that selective suppression of insect symbiosis-related gene function can reduce the performance of an insect pest. Phylogenetic analysis identified amiD and ldcA1 in sequenced genomes of other aphid species, and amiD in related groups of phloem-feeding insects, offering the opportunity for specific controls against a range of insect pests.
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Targeting symbiosis-related insect genes by RNAi in the pea aphid-Buchnera symbiosis.
Insect Biochem Mol Biol
April 2018
Department of Entomology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA; Department of Molecular Biology & Genetics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA. Electronic address:
The growth and reproduction of phloem sap-feeding insects requires the sustained function of intracellular bacteria localized in specialized cells known as bacteriocytes, giving the potential to target the bacterial symbiosis as a novel strategy for controlling sap-feeding insect pests. We focused on two genes in the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum, amiD and ldcA1, which were acquired horizontally from bacteria and have the annotated function to degrade immunogenic bacterial peptidoglycan. We hypothesized that AmiD and LdcA1 function to eliminate peptidoglycan fragments released by the bacterial symbiont Buchnera inhabiting the bacteriocytes, thereby protecting the Buchnera from host attack.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBacterial genes in the aphid genome: absence of functional gene transfer from Buchnera to its host.
PLoS Genet
February 2010
Department of Liberal Arts, The Open University of Japan, Chiba, Japan.
Article Synopsis
- Genome reduction is common in obligate symbionts like Buchnera aphidicola, the mutualists found in aphids, suggesting potential gene transfer to the aphid genome from these bacteria.
- The complete sequencing of the pea aphid's genome revealed at least 12 transferred genes from various bacteria, with functional implications, including genes like LD-carboxypeptidases and lipoproteins.
- The results indicate that while some genes are functional and upregulated in bacteriocytes, the reduction of Buchnera’s genome does not correlate with significant gene transfer to the aphid’s nuclear genome.
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