AUTHOR=Hong Yanyun , Yi Tuyong , Tan Xiaoling , Zhao Zihua , Ge Feng 

TITLE=High Ozone (O3) Affects the Fitness Associated with the Microbial Composition and Abundance of Q Biotype Bemisia tabaci

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=7

YEAR=2016

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2016.01593

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2016.01593

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p>Ozone (O<sub>3</sub>) affects the fitness of an insect, such as its development, reproduction and protection against fungal pathogens, but the mechanism by which it does so remains unclear. Here, we compared the fitness (i.e., the growth and development time, reproduction and protection against <italic>Beauveria bassiana</italic> (<italic>B. bassiana</italic>) of Q biotype whiteflies fumigated under hO<sub>3</sub> (280 ± 20 ppb) and control O<sub>3</sub> (50 ± 10 ppb) concentrations. Moreover, we determined that gene expression was related to development, reproduction and immunity to <italic>B. bassiana</italic> and examined the abundance and composition of bacteria and fungi inside of the body and on the surface of the Q biotype whitefly. We observed a significantly enhanced number of eggs that were laid by a female, shortened developmental time, prolonged adult lifespan, decreased weight of one eclosion, and reduced immunity to <italic>B. bassiana</italic> in whiteflies under hO<sub>3</sub>, but hO<sub>3</sub> did not significantly affect the expression of genes related to development, reproduction and immunity. However, hO<sub>3</sub> obviously changed the composition of the bacterial communities inside of the body and on the surface of the whiteflies, significantly reducing <italic>Rickettsia</italic> and enhancing <italic>Candidatus_Cardinium</italic>. Similarly, hO<sub>3</sub> significantly enhanced <italic>Thysanophora penicillioides</italic> from the <italic>Trichocomaceae</italic> family and reduced <italic>Dothideomycetes</italic> (at the class level) inside of the body. Furthermore, positive correlations were found between the abundance of <italic>Candidatus_Cardinium</italic> and the female whitefly ratio and the fecundity of a single female, and positive correlations were found between the abundance of <italic>Rickettsia</italic> and the weight of adult whiteflies just after eclosion and immunity to <italic>B. bassiana.</italic> We conclude that hO<sub>3</sub> enhances whitefly development and reproduction but impairs immunity to <italic>B. bassiana</italic>, and our results also suggest that the changes to the microbial environments inside of the body and on the surface could be crucial factors that alter whitefly fitness under hO<sub>3</sub>.</p>