Journal article
Hessian fly-associated bacteria: transmission, essentiality, and composition
PloS one, Vol.6(8), pp.e23170-e23170
2011
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/108732
PMCID: PMC3156707
PMID: 21858016
Abstract
Plant-feeding insects have been recently found to use microbes to manipulate host plant physiology and morphology. Gall midges are one of the largest groups of insects that manipulate host plants extensively. Hessian fly (HF, Mayetiola destructor) is an important pest of wheat and a model system for studying gall midges. To examine the role of bacteria in parasitism, a systematic analysis of bacteria associated with HF was performed for the first time. Diverse bacteria were found in different developmental HF stages. Fluorescent in situ hybridization detected a bacteriocyte-like structure in developing eggs. Bacterial DNA was also detected in eggs by PCR using primers targeted to different bacterial groups. These results indicated that HF hosted different types of bacteria that were maternally transmitted to the next generation. Eliminating bacteria from the insect with antibiotics resulted in high mortality of HF larvae, indicating that symbiotic bacteria are essential for the insect to survive on wheat seedlings. A preliminary survey identified various types of bacteria associated with different HF stages, including the genera Enterobacter, Pantoea, Stenotrophomonas, Pseudomonas, Bacillus, Ochrobactrum, Acinetobacter, Alcaligenes, Nitrosomonas, Arcanobacterium, Microbacterium, Paenibacillus, and Klebsiella. Similar bacteria were also found specifically in HF-infested susceptible wheat, suggesting that HF larvae had either transmitted bacteria into plant tissue or brought secondary infection of bacteria to the wheat host. The bacteria associated with wheat seedlings may play an essential role in the wheat-HF interaction.
Metrics
12 Record Views
Details
- Title
- Hessian fly-associated bacteria: transmission, essentiality, and composition
- Creators
- Raman Bansal - Department of Entomology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas, United States of AmericaScot HulbertBrandi SchemerhornJohn C ReeseR Jeff WhitworthJeffrey J StuartMing-Shun Chen
- Publication Details
- PloS one, Vol.6(8), pp.e23170-e23170
- Academic Unit
- Plant Pathology, Department of
- Publisher
- United States
- Identifiers
- 99900547212301842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article