Dataset Information

Microbial community of predatory bugs of the genus Macrolophus (Hemiptera: Miridae).

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: The predatory mirids of the genus Macrolophus are key natural enemies of various economically important agricultural pests. Both M. caliginosus and M. pygmaeus are commercially available for the augmentative biological control of arthropod pests in European greenhouses. The latter species is known to be infected with Wolbachia -inducing cytoplasmic incompatibility in its host- but the presence of other endosymbionts has not been demonstrated. In the present study, the microbial diversity was examined in various populations of M. caliginosus and M. pygmaeus by 16S rRNA sequencing and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis. RESULTS: Besides Wolbachia, a co-infection of 2 Rickettsia species was detected in all M. pygmaeus populations. Based on a concatenated alignment of the 16S rRNA gene, the gltA gene and the coxA gene, the first is phylogenetically related to Rickettsia bellii, whereas the other is closely related to Rickettsia limoniae. All M. caliginosus populations were infected with the same Wolbachia and limoniae-like Rickettsia strain as M. pygmaeus, but did not harbour the bellii-like Rickettsia strain. Interestingly, individuals with a single infection were not found. A PCR assay on the ovaries of M. pygmaeus and M. caliginosus indicated that all endosymbionts are vertically transmitted. The presence of Wolbachia and Rickettsia in oocytes was confirmed by a fluorescence in situ hybridisation. A bio-assay comparing an infected and an uninfected M. pygmaeus population suggested that the endosymbionts had minor effects on nymphal development of their insect host and did not influence its fecundity. CONCLUSION: Two species of the palaearctic mirid genus Macrolophus are infected with multiple endosymbionts, including Wolbachia and Rickettsia. Independent of the origin, all tested populations of both M. pygmaeus and M. caliginosus were infected with three and two endosymbionts, respectively. There was no indication that infection with endosymbiotic bacteria had a fitness cost in terms of development and fecundity of the predators.

SUBMITTER: Machtelinckx T

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3287520 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Microbial community of predatory bugs of the genus Macrolophus (Hemiptera: Miridae).

Machtelinckx Thijs T Van Leeuwen Thomas T Van De Wiele Tom T Boon Nico N De Vos Winnok H WH Sanchez Juan-Antonio JA Nannini Mauro M Gheysen Godelieve G De Clercq Patrick P

BMC microbiology 20120118

<h4>Background</h4>The predatory mirids of the genus Macrolophus are key natural enemies of various economically important agricultural pests. Both M. caliginosus and M. pygmaeus are commercially available for the augmentative biological control of arthropod pests in European greenhouses. The latter species is known to be infected with Wolbachia -inducing cytoplasmic incompatibility in its host- but the presence of other endosymbionts has not been demonstrated. In the present study, the microbia ...[more]

PMID: 22376198

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Project description:Macrolophus pygmaeus (Rambur) (Hemiptera: Miridae) is widely distributed throughout the Palaearctic region. The aim was to explain the current geographic distribution of the species by investigating its genetic population structure. Samples of M. pygmaeus were collected in 15 localities through its range of distribution. A sample from a commercial producer was also analyzed. A total of 367 M. pygmaeus were genotyped for nine microsatellite loci. Isolation by distance was tested by Mantel's test. The molecular structure of M. pygmaeus populations was inferred by UPGMA, AMOVA, Principal component and Bayesian analyses. The average number of alleles per locus per population was 5.5 (range: 3.1-7.8). Istanbul (Turkey) and Nimes (France) had the lowest (0.291) and the highest (0.626) expected heterozygosity (H(e)), respectively. There was an increase in H(e) from the Canary Islands to Nimes, and a progressive decrease thereafter. A significant negative correlation was found between allelic richness and H(e), and the distance of each population to the easternmost locality (Canary Islands). Significant linkage disequilibrium was observed in the populations from Turkey. F(ST) (0.004-0.334) indicated a high population differentiation, with isolation by distance supported by a high correlation. Bayesian analyses, PCA, and UPGMA pointed to three main clusters: (1) Greece and Turkey, (2) Italy and France, and (3) southern Iberia and the Canary Islands. The recent evolutionary history of M. pygmaeus is inferred from the data as follows: (1) the reduction in the geographic distribution of the species to the Iberian, Italian, and Balkan peninsulas, and possibly southern France, during glaciations and re-colonization of northern Europe from its southern refuges; (2) the maintenance of high diversity in Iberia and Italy (and possibly southern France) during contraction periods, and bottlenecks in the Balkans; (3) introgression of the Italian-French lineage in northern Spain, naturally or through trade.

Project description:The family Miridae is one of the most species-rich families of insects. To better understand the diversity and evolution of mirids, we determined the mitogenome of Lygus pratenszs and re-sequenced the mitogenomes of four mirids (i.e., Apolygus lucorum, Adelphocoris suturalis, Ade. fasciaticollis and Ade. lineolatus). We performed a comparative analysis for 15 mitogenomic sequences representing 11 species of five genera within Miridae and evaluated the potential of these mitochondrial genes as molecular markers. Our results showed that the general mitogenomic features (gene content, gene arrangement, base composition and codon usage) were well conserved among these mirids. Four protein-coding genes (PCGs) (cox1, cox3, nad1 and nad3) had no length variability, where nad5 showed the largest size variation; no intraspecific length variation was found in PCGs. Two PCGs (nad4 and nad5) showed relatively high substitution rates at the nucleotide and amino acid levels, where cox1 had the lowest substitution rate. The Ka/Ks values for all PCGs were far lower than 1 (<0.59), but the Ka/Ks values of cox1-barcode sequences were always larger than 1 (1.34 -15.20), indicating that the 658 bp sequences of cox1 may be not the appropriate marker due to positive selection or selection relaxation. Phylogenetic analyses based on two concatenated mitogenomic datasets consistently supported the relationship of Nesidiocoris + (Trigonotylus + (Adelphocoris + (Apolygus + Lygus))), as revealed by nad4, nad5, rrnL and the combined 22 transfer RNA genes (tRNAs), respectively. Taken sequence length, substitution rate and phylogenetic signal together, the individual genes (nad4, nad5 and rrnL) and the combined 22 tRNAs could been used as potential molecular markers for Miridae at various taxonomic levels. Our results suggest that it is essential to evaluate and select suitable markers for different taxa groups when performing phylogenetic, population genetic and species identification studies.

Dataset Information

Microbial community of predatory bugs of the genus Macrolophus (Hemiptera: Miridae).

Publications

Microbial community of predatory bugs of the genus Macrolophus (Hemiptera: Miridae).

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