A Rickettsiella transinfection in Rhopalosiphum padi reduces fitness and alate production but not plant virus transmission.
Yang Q, Gill A, Yu W, Ross PA, Chirgwin E
Biological Control
Barley yellow dwarf virus quietly devastates wheat and oat crops across millions of acres every year, and the tiny aphids that carry it can colonize an entire field before most growers notice—so any biological lever that slows their spread is worth watching.
Aphids carry tiny bacteria inside their bodies that can affect how well they survive and reproduce. Researchers took one of these bacteria from pea aphids and introduced it into a different species—the bird-cherry oat aphid, a common pest of cereal crops like wheat and barley. The new bacterial resident made the host aphids slower to reproduce and less likely to grow wings (which would let them fly to new plants), though it didn't stop them from passing on the plant virus they carry.
Key Findings
Transinfected aphids had a lower intrinsic rate of increase (r), meaning they reproduced more slowly than aphids without the introduced bacterium.
Alate (winged) aphid production was reduced in the transinfected strain, suggesting the bacterium could limit the pest's ability to disperse to new host plants.
The Rickettsiella transinfection did not affect barley yellow dwarf virus acquisition or transmission, so the virus risk to crops remains unchanged despite the fitness costs to the aphid.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists introduced a bacterial passenger from pea aphids into bird-cherry oat aphids—a major cereal pest—and found it slowed reproduction and reduced the proportion of winged aphids, which are responsible for spreading the pest to new fields. The bacterial passenger did not stop the aphid from transmitting barley yellow dwarf virus, but its other costs hint at a potential biological tool for limiting aphid dispersal.
Abstract Preview
Native bacterial endosymbionts in aphids have been studied for many years but it is only recently that transinfections across species are being investigated from an applied perspective. Here we con...
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