Shifts in Pseudomonas species diversity influence adaptation of brown planthopper to changing climates and geographical locations

Ayushi Gupta; Deepak Kumar Sinha; Suresh Nair

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2022.104550

Shifts in Pseudomonas species diversity influence adaptation of brown planthopper to changing climates and geographical locations

iScience. 2022 Jun 7;25(7):104550. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.104550. eCollection 2022 Jul 15.

Authors

Ayushi Gupta¹, Deepak Kumar Sinha¹, Suresh Nair¹

Affiliation

¹ Plant-Insect Interaction Group, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi 110067, India.

Abstract

The brown planthopper (BPH) is a monophagous sap-sucking pest of rice that causes immense yield loss. The rapid build-up of pesticide resistance combined with the ability of BPH populations to quickly overcome host plant resistance has rendered conventional control strategies ineffective. One of the likely ways in which BPH adapts to novel environments is by undergoing rapid shifts in its microbiome composition. To elucidate the rapid adaptation to novel environments and the contributions of Pseudomonas toward insect survival, we performed Pseudomonas-specific 16S rRNA gut-microbiome profiling of BPH populations. Results revealed the differential occurrence of Pseudomonas species in BPH populations with changing climates and geographical locations. Further, the observed variation in Pseudomonas species composition and abundance correlated with BPH survivability. Collectively, this study, while adding to our current understanding of symbiont-mediated insect adaptation, also demonstrated a complex interplay between insect physiology and microbiome dynamics, which likely confers BPH its rapid adaptive capacity.

Keywords: Entomology; Microbiology; plant biology.