Infections with Arsenophonus Facultative Endosymbionts Alter Performance of Aphids (Aphis gossypii) on an Amino-Acid-Deficient Diet

Abstract

The facultative endosymbiont Arsenophonus plays an important role in regulating reproduction through son killing, enemy resistance, and the dietary breadth of its insect hosts. In this study, we found Arsenophonus could alter aphid performance on the amino-acid-deficient diets. Arsenophonus infection increased aphid requirements for the amino acid Phe, but decreased requirements for the Leu. Cotton and cucumber leaves contained drastically different titers of free amino acids Phe and Leu, and aphids living on these two plants were infected with different incidences of Arsenophonus . We hypothesize that host specialization or the host plant range of aphids may be mediated by Arsenophonus .