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Conditional fitness benefits of the Rickettsia bacterial symbiont in an insect pest

  • Plant-microbe-animal interactions - Original research
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Abstract

Inherited bacterial symbionts are common in arthropods and can have strong effects on the biology of their hosts. These effects are often mediated by host ecology. The Rickettsia symbiont can provide strong fitness benefits to its insect host, Bemisia tabaci, under laboratory and field conditions. However, the frequency of the symbiont is heterogeneous among field collection sites across the USA, suggesting that the benefits of the symbiont are contingent on additional factors. In two whitefly genetic lines collected from the same location, we tested the effect of Rickettsia on whitefly survival after heat shock, on whitefly competitiveness at different temperatures, and on whitefly competitiveness at different starting frequencies of Rickettsia. Rickettsia did not provide protection against heat shock nor affect the competitiveness of whiteflies at different temperatures or starting frequencies. However, there was a strong interaction between Rickettsia infection and whitefly genetic line. Performance measures indicated that Rickettsia was associated with significant female bias in both whitefly genetic lines, but in the second whitefly genetic line it conferred no significant fitness benefits nor conferred any competitive advantage to its host over uninfected whiteflies in population cages. These results help to explain other reports of variation in the phenotype of the symbiosis. Furthermore, they demonstrate the complex nature of these close symbiotic associations and the need to consider these interactions in the context of host population structure.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the United States Department of Agriculture AFRI grant 2010-03752 to MSH, research Grant No. US-4304-10 R from the United States–Israel Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund (to MSH and Einat Zchori-Fein), National Science Foundation Grants DEB-1020460 (to MSH and AGH) and IOS-1256905 (to MSH and Stephan Schmitz-Esser), a National Institutes of Health training grant 1K 12 GM00708 (to AGH), and a Center for Insect Science Research Award (to BNC). We thank Nick Dowdy, Brennan Zehr, Jimmy Conway, and Ling Zhong for help with the experimental setup and whitefly rearing, and Mohammad Torabi for statistical advice.

Author contribution statement

BNC, AGH, and MSH conceived and designed the experiments. BNC, AGH, ECB, JEB, SEK, and SKF performed the experiments. BNC, AGH, ECB, and MSH analyzed the data. BNC, AGH, and MSH wrote the manuscript.

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  1. Anna G. Himler

    Present address: Department of Biology, The College of Idaho, 2112 Cleveland Blvd., Box 44, Caldwell, ID, 83605, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate Interdisciplinary Program in Entomology and Insect Science, University of Arizona, 410 Forbes, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA

    Bodil N. Cass

  2. Department of Entomology, University of Arizona, 410 Forbes, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA

    Anna G. Himler, Elizabeth C. Bondy, Jacquelyn E. Bergen, Sierra K. Fung, Suzanne E. Kelly & Martha S. Hunter

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  1. Bodil N. Cass
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Cass, B.N., Himler, A.G., Bondy, E.C. et al. Conditional fitness benefits of the Rickettsia bacterial symbiont in an insect pest. Oecologia 180, 169–179 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-015-3436-x

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