State Key Laboratory of Tea Plant Biology and Utilization, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, China.
School of Life Sciences, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, China.
J Econ Entomol. 2024 Oct 14;117(5):1859-1866. doi: 10.1093/jee/toae174.
Wolbachia, a prevalent intracellular symbiotic bacterium in insects, plays a significant role in insect biology. Ectropis grisescens (Warren; Lepidoptera: Geometridae) is a devastating chewing pest distributed in tea plantations throughout China. However, it is unclear how Wolbachia titers affect the fitness and reproduction of E. grisescens. In this study, the impacts of 3 different infection lines, naturally Wolbachia-infected, Wolbachia-uninfected, and Wolbachia transinfected, regarding the life history traits of E. grisescens, were evaluated using the age-stage, 2-sex life table. Wolbachia infection shortened preadult duration and preoviposition periods and increased the fecundity, net reproductive rate, and finite rate of increase. Meanwhile, population projection indicated that E. grisescens population size with Wolbachia infection can increase faster than without. These results indicate that Wolbachia plays a regulatory role in the fitness of E. grisescens. It is also noted that the life history parameters of E. grisescens may positively correlate with Wolbachia titers. These findings could aid in pest management in tea gardens.
沃尔巴克氏体（Wolbachia）是一种普遍存在于昆虫细胞内的共生菌，在昆虫生物学中具有重要作用。茶尺蠖（Ectropis grisescens）是一种分布在中国茶园的严重咀嚼性害虫。然而，目前尚不清楚沃尔巴克氏体的滴度如何影响茶尺蠖的适应性和繁殖力。在本研究中，我们使用年龄-阶段-两性生命表评估了 3 种不同感染线（自然感染沃尔巴克氏体、未感染沃尔巴克氏体和转染沃尔巴克氏体）对茶尺蠖的生活史特征的影响。沃尔巴克氏体感染缩短了预蛹期和产卵前期，增加了产卵量、净生殖率和内禀增长率。同时，种群预测表明，感染沃尔巴克氏体的茶尺蠖种群增长速度快于未感染的种群。这些结果表明，沃尔巴克氏体在茶尺蠖的适应性中发挥着调节作用。此外，还注意到茶尺蠖的生活史参数可能与沃尔巴克氏体的滴度呈正相关。这些发现有助于茶园害虫的管理。
