Bacterial Symbionts of the Brown Planthopper,Nilaparvata lugens (Homoptera: Delphacidae)

The brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens Stål), the most destructive pest of rice, has been identified, including biotypes with high virulence towards previously resistant rice varieties. There have also been many reports of a yeast-like symbiont of N. lugens, but little is known about the bacterial microbes. In this study, we examined the bacterial microbes in N. lugens and identified a total of 18 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) representing four phyla (Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, and Bacteroidetes) by sequencing and analyzing 16S rRNA gene libraries obtained from three populations of N. lugens, which were maintained on the rice varieties TN1, Mudgo, and ASD7. Several of the OTUs were similar to previously reported secondary symbionts of other insects, including an endosymbiont of the psyllid Glycapsis brimblecombei, an Asaia sp. found in the mosquito Anopheles stephensi, and Wolbachia, found in the mite Metaseiulus occidentalis. However, the species and numbers of the detected OTUs differed substantially among the N. lugens populations. Further, in situ hybridization analysis using digoxigenin-labeled probes indicated that OTU 1 was located in hypogastrium tissues near the ovipositor and ovary in biotype 1 insects, while OTU 2 was located in the front of the ovipositor sheath in biotype 2 insects. In addition, masses of bacterium-like organisms were observed in the tubes of salivary sheaths in rice plant tissues that the insects had fed upon. The results provide indications of the diversity of the bacterial microbes harbored by the brown planthopper and of possible associations between specific bacterial microbes and biotypes of N. lugens.Close associations between insects and the microbes they harbor appear to be common. Symbionts have been found to contribute to the nutrition, development, reproduction, speciation, and defense against natural enemies of their host insects (1, 11, 18, 30, 39). The small brown planthopper (Laodelphax striatellus) and the white-backed planthopper (Sogatella furcifrea) also reportedly harbor an alphaproteobacterial Wolbachia symbiont (29) that can be transferred horizontally between different insect species and that affects its hosts'' sexual reproduction, cytoplasmic incompatibility, and immune responses (21, 38, 39).The brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens Stål (Homoptera: Delphacidae), is a monophagous insect herbivore of rice (13) that feeds on rice phloem and causes serious damage to rice crops. N. lugens reportedly harbors an intracellular, eukaryotic “yeast-like symbiont” (YLS) in the fat body, which plays a key role in recycling uric acid (3, 33). However, little is known about bacterial symbionts in N. lugens.It has been well recognized that diversity exists within insect species and that “biotypes” or populations that are adapted to or that prefer a particular host can frequently develop (10, 12). The behavioral and physiological responses during insect establishment on plants are feeding, metabolism of ingested food, growth, adult survival, egg production, and oviposition (34). In N. lugens, the biotype is assigned to a population with the ability to damage varieties of rice that carry resistance genes and that were previously resistant to it (5). It has been claimed that some biotypes of N. lugens differ in small morphological features, isozymes, and DNA polymorphisms (6, 25, 36). However, the precise nature of the virulence-conferring mechanisms in N. lugens biotypes (and their modes and stability of inheritance) is not clear. It is interesting to survey symbionts in different biotype populations of N. lugens.Generally, the 16S rRNA gene has been used as a molecular marker enabling the detection of as-yet-uncultured microbes, and it facilitates a profound investigation of microbial diversity (2, 22, 44). We initiated a study using molecular methods to investigate the bacterial symbionts of N. lugens. The major objective of this study was to identify bacterial microbes in N. lugens. The identified bacterial microbes appeared to be associated with different populations of N. lugens and in some cases were located in specific tissues, according to in situ hybridization (ISH) analyses.