The endosymbiont Hamiltonella increases the growth rate of its host Bemisia tabaci during periods of nutritional stress

PLoS One. 2014 Feb 18;9(2):e89002. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0089002. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

The whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) harbors several bacterial symbionts. Among the secondary (facultative) symbionts, Hamiltonella has high prevalence and high infection frequencies, suggesting that it may be important for the biology and ecology of its hosts. Previous reports indicated that Hamiltonella increases whitefly fitness and, based on the complete sequencing of its genome, may have the ability to synthesize cofactors and amino acids that are required by its host but that are not sufficiently synthesized by the host or by the primary endosymbiont, Portiera. Here, we assessed the effects of Hamiltonella infection on the growth of B. tabaci reared on low-, standard-, or high-nitrogen diets. When B. tabaci was reared on a standard-nitrogen diet, no cost or benefit was associated with Hamiltonella infection. But, if we reared whiteflies on low-nitrogen diets, Hamiltonella-infected whiteflies often grew better than uninfected whiteflies. Furthermore, nitrogen levels in field-collected whiteflies indicated that the nutritional conditions in the field were comparable to the low-nitrogen diet in our laboratory experiment. These data suggest that Hamiltonella may play a previously unrecognized role as a nutritional mutualist in B. tabaci.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acids / metabolism
  • Analysis of Variance
  • Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena / physiology*
  • Animals
  • China
  • Enterobacteriaceae / metabolism
  • Enterobacteriaceae / physiology*
  • Hemiptera / growth & development*
  • Hemiptera / microbiology*
  • Nitrogen / metabolism
  • Stress, Physiological / physiology*
  • Symbiosis*

Substances

  • Amino Acids
  • Nitrogen

Grants and funding

This research was supported by the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars (31025020), the 973 Program (2013CB127602), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31171857), the Beijing Natural Science Foundation (6131002), and the Beijing Key Laboratory for Pest Control and Sustainable Cultivation of Vegetables. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.