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Complex symbiotic systems of two treehopper species: Centrotus cornutus (Linnaeus, 1758) and Gargara genistae (Fabricius, 1775) (Hemiptera: Cicadomorpha: Membracoidea: Membracidae)

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Abstract

The aim of the conducted study was to describe the symbiotic systems (the types of symbionts, distribution in the body of the host insect, the transovarial transmission between generations) of two treehoppers: Centrotus cornutus and Gargara genistae by means of microscopic and molecular techniques. We found that each of them is host to four species of bacteriome-inhabiting symbionts. In C. cornutus, ancestral bacterial symbionts Sulcia and Nasuia are accompanied by an additional symbiont—the bacterium Arsenophonus. In the bacteriomes of G. genistae, apart from Sulcia and Nasuia, bacterium Serratia is present. To our knowledge, this is the first report regarding the occurrence of Serratia as a symbiont in Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha. Bacteria Sulcia and Nasuia are harbored in their own bacteriocytes, whereas Arsenophonus and Serratia both inhabit their own bacteriocytes and also co-reside with bacteria Nasuia. We observed that both bacteria Arsenophonus and Serratia undergo autophagic degradation. We found that in both of the species examined, in the cytoplasm and nuclei of all of the cells of the bacteriome, bacteria Rickettsia are present. Our histological and ultrastructural observations revealed that all the bacteriome-associated symbionts of C. cornutus and G. genistae are transovarially transmitted from mother to offspring.

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Acknowledgments

We are greatly indebted to MSc. Ada Jankowska for her skilled technical assistance. The ultrastructural observations were carried out using the Jeol JEM 2100 transmission electron microscope in the Laboratory of Microscopy, Department of Cell Biology and Imaging, Institute of Zoology and Biomedical Research, Jagiellonian University.

Funding

This work was supported by funds from research grants K/ZDS/008068 and N18/DBS/000013.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Developmental Biology and Morphology of Invertebrates, Institute of Zoology and Biomedical Research, Faculty of Biology, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 9, 30-387, Kraków, Poland

    Michał Kobiałka, Anna Michalik & Teresa Szklarzewicz

  2. Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Jan Długosz University, Armii Krajowej 13/15, 42-201, Częstochowa, Poland

    Dariusz Świerczewski

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  1. Michał Kobiałka
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Correspondence to Teresa Szklarzewicz.

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Kobiałka, M., Michalik, A., Świerczewski, D. et al. Complex symbiotic systems of two treehopper species: Centrotus cornutus (Linnaeus, 1758) and Gargara genistae (Fabricius, 1775) (Hemiptera: Cicadomorpha: Membracoidea: Membracidae). Protoplasma 257, 819–831 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00709-019-01466-z

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