Adaptation of transmissible bacterial communities to multiple hosts: how the sap-feeding insect Scaphoideus titanus ships bacterial symbionts across grapevine plants
S. LÒPEZ-FERNÀNDEZ (1), V. Mazzoni (1), I. Pertot (1), A. Campisano (1) (1) Fondazione Edmund Mach, Italy; (2) Fondazione Edmund Mach, Italy

Disentangling the interactions occurring in the agro-ecosystems may improve our knowledge of of new mechanisms of plant protection. For example, bacteria that dwell asymptomatically within plants (endophytes) can prime the plant immunity and reduce disease severity. Plant pathogens are often transported by insect vectors and (due to their coexistence) it is likely that endophytes are likewise translocated. By sequencing the community 16S rDNA, we followed the transmission of bacterial communities of grapevine through the leafhopper Scaphoideus titanus and described its  structure in a tri-partite system: a “source” plant, a S. titanus vector and a “sink” plant and highlighted the ecological adaptations the bacterial community undergo when changing hosts. We found that the vector efficiently transferred 443 taxa from source to sink plants where Pseudomonas sp. Ralstonia sp. and members of the Enterobacteriacea were the most abundant. The bacterial communities in source and sink plants were dominated by beta- and gamma-proteobacteria, whereas in the insect, bacilli, clostridia and saprospirae had  higher abundances Sterile plants where newborn S. titanus nymphs fed, were dominated by Actinobacteria and samples from the same host grouped together, suggesting that source plants have a role in settling the insect-associated microbiome. Our findings point towards a role of insects as vectors for endophytes and highlight  that composition of the bacterial community is host-specific. 

Abstract Number: C10-3, P3-83
Session Type: Concurrent