A large-scale field study of bacterial communities in cereal aphid populations across Morocco

Abstract

Insects are frequently associated with bacteria that can have significant ecological and evolutionary impacts on their hosts. To date, few studies have examined the influence of environmental factors to microbiome composition of aphids. The current work assessed the diversity of bacterial communities of five cereal aphid species (Sitobion avenae, Rhopalosiphum padi, R. maidis, Sipha maydis and Diuraphis noxia) collected across Morocco, covering a wide range of environmental conditions. We aimed to test whether symbiont combinations are host or environment specific. Deep 16S rRNA sequencing enabled us to identify 17 bacterial operational taxonomic units (OTUs). The obligate symbiont Buchnera aphidicola was represented by five OTUs with multiple haplotypes in many single samples. Facultative endosymbionts were presented by a high prevalence of Regiella insecticola and Serratia symbiotica in S. avenae and Si. maydis, respectively. In addition to these symbiotic partners, Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter, Pantoea, Erwinia and Staphyloccocus were also identified in aphids, suggesting that the aphid microbiome is not limited to the presence of endosymbiotic bacteria. Beside a significant association between host species and bacterial communities, an inverse correlation was also found between altitude and α-diversity. Overall, our results support that symbiont combinations are mainly host specific.

Keywords: Morocco; bacterial community; cereal aphids; geographical distribution; host plants; symbionts.