›› 2012, Vol. 55 ›› Issue (12): 1345-1354.doi:

• RESEARCH PAPERS • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Double infection of Wolbachia and Cardinium in the whitebacked planthopper, Sogatella furcifera (Hemiptera: Delphacidae)

ZHANG Kai-Jun, ZHU Wen-Chao, LIU Jing, DING Xiu-Lei, RONG Xia, HONG Xiao-Yue   

  • Received:2012-10-29 Revised:2012-12-16 Online:2012-12-20 Published:2012-12-20
  • Contact: HONG Xiao-Yue E-mail:xyhong@njau.edu.cn
  • About author:kjzhangcn@gmail.com

Abstract: In order to reveal the infection characteristics of bacterial endosymbionts Wolbachia and Cardinium in natural populations of Sogatella furcifera (Horváth) and the relationship between Wolbachia and bacteriophage WO, we used PCR method to detect the infection rates and tissue distribution of these bacteria and phage in various S. furcifera populations which were collected from nine localities in seven provinces and regions of China. The results revealed that the double infection of Wolbachia and Cardinium was a common event in this insect with each population tested having a high infection rate. For Cardinium, the infection rate was nearly 100%, but for Wolbachia, the infection rates of females and males were quite different, nearly 100% in females while ranged from 22.2%-95.0% in male adults. In addition, by comparing the detection results using different DNA extraction methods and DNA polymerase, we found that the rough DNA extraction method has evident disadvantages in surveying the endosymbiont infection. Wolbachia and Cardinium existed not only in the germinal tissues of S. furcifera but also in non-reproductive tissues/parts such as head, thorax, legs and wings. Meanwhile, these two endosymbionts exhibited different change patterns during the adult stage, particularly in males. There existed an obvious negative correlation between the infection rates of Wolbachia and the rates of bacteriophage WO detected from uninfected individuals in males. The lower Wolbachia infection rate in males might be caused by the transition of WO phage from lysogenic to lytic type under the induction of certain factors. The results of this study will shed light on further understanding of the reproductive manipulation and underlying mechanisms of Wolbachia and Cardinium, their vertical transfer, interrelationship and their potential utilization.

Key words: Sogatella furcifera, Wolbachia; Cardinium, bacteriophage WO, double infection, infection rate