Institute of Bast Fiber Crops, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changsha 410205, China.
Department of Biology, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON L8S 4K1, Canada.
Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Sep 2;24(17):13588. doi: 10.3390/ijms241713588.
Heavy metal contamination is among the most prominent environmental problems in China, posing serious threats to both ecosystem and human health. Among the diverse heavy metal contaminants, cadmium is the most serious. The whitefly is a cosmopolitan pest capable of causing severe damage to a broad range of agricultural crops, especially vegetables. At present, little is known about the effects of cadmium stress on , including on its bacterial and fungal communities. In the current study, we investigated the effects of cadmium on bacterial and fungal communities in whiteflies. Meta-barcode sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene revealed that the whitefly bacterial community contained 264 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) belonging to 201 known genera and 245 known species. The top five most frequent bacterial genera were , , , , and . Meta-barcode sequencing of the fungal ITS locus revealed that the whitefly fungal community contained 357 OTUs belonging to 187 known genera and 248 known species. The top five most frequent fungal genera were , , , , and . Cadmium exposure reduced the fungal OTU richness but increased the bacterial Shannon and Simpson diversity indices in whiteflies. In addition, upon exposure to cadmium, the microbial community composition in whiteflies changed significantly, with increased prevalence of the bacterial genera and and fungal genus . Our results indicate that the whitefly microbiota likely contributed to their adaptation and resistance to cadmium and suggested that whiteflies may contain microbes that could help remediate cadmium contamination in natural environments and agricultural fields.
重金属污染是中国最突出的环境问题之一，对生态系统和人类健康构成严重威胁。在众多重金属污染物中，镉是最严重的一种。粉虱是一种世界性的害虫，能够对广泛的农作物，尤其是蔬菜造成严重破坏。目前，人们对镉胁迫对粉虱的影响知之甚少，包括对其细菌和真菌群落的影响。在本研究中，我们调查了镉对粉虱细菌和真菌群落的影响。16S rRNA 基因的元条形码测序显示，粉虱细菌群落包含 264 个操作分类单元（OTUs），属于 201 个已知属和 245 个已知种。前五个最常见的细菌属是 、 、 、 和 。真菌 ITS 基因座的元条形码测序显示，粉虱真菌群落包含 357 个 OTUs，属于 187 个已知属和 248 个已知种。前五个最常见的真菌属是 、 、 、 和 。镉暴露降低了粉虱的真菌 OTU 丰富度，但增加了细菌 Shannon 和 Simpson 多样性指数。此外，在镉暴露下，粉虱的微生物群落组成发生了显著变化，细菌属 和 和真菌属 的流行度增加。我们的结果表明，粉虱的微生物群可能有助于它们对镉的适应和抵抗，并暗示粉虱可能含有有助于修复自然环境和农业领域镉污染的微生物。
