关键词: 昆虫共生病毒； 植物病原传播媒介； 病毒多样性； 病毒进化, 节肢动物

Abstract:  Arthropod-transmitted plant pathogens are major contributors to global crop yield losses, however, our understanding of the insect-specific viruses (ISVs) harbored by these vectors remains relatively limited. In recent years, the application of high-throughput sequencing technologies has been more and more widely used in novel virus identification and revealed remarkable diversity of ISVs within important plant pathogen vectors, including aphids, planthoppers and thrips. In this review, we systematically summarized the recent advances in the study of ISV diversity in these insect vectors. Current data reveal over 300 ISVs across 44 vector species of dozens of virus families. Dominated by RNA viruses, this diverse group encompasses a broad range of genome types, including positive-sense single-stranded RNA (+ssRNA) virus, negative-sense single-stranded RNA (-ssRNA) virus, double-stranded RNA virus (dsRNA virus) and single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) virus. These findings have significantly expanded the known RNA virosphere and filled critical gaps in current viral phylogenetic trees. Furthermore, accumulating evidence shows that several plant viruses share close evolutionary relationships with ISVs, supporting the hypothesis that plant viruses may have originated from arthropod viruses through cross-species transmission events. Beyond their taxonomic diversity, recent studies suggest that ISVs perform multiple biological functions in their hosts, such as inducing pathogenicity to hosts, modulating host physiology and biochemistry, and influencing the hosts’ capacity to acquire and transmit plant pathogens. Collectively, this review focused on the diversity of ISVs in plant pathogen vectors, highlighted their significance in viral evolution, and emphasized their potential as a valuable resource pool for developing environmentally sustainable pest and disease control strategies.

Key words: Insect-specific viruses, plant pathogen vectors, viral diversity, viral evolution, arthropods