Recent advances in insect-microbe interactions show that microbial associates can modulate the behaviors of their hosts, such as defensive or food choice behaviors. For phytophagous insects, host plant choice is of utmost importance, because most of them are specialized on a few plant species, which represent not only their food source but often their habitat and reproduction site. Therefore, identifying how microbial symbionts could influence host plant selection provides valuable information on their potential role in the evolution of the diet breath of phytophagous insects. In this study, we investigated whether bacterial symbiont loss or acquisition modulate host plant selection in the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum Harris (Hemiptera: Aphididae). Several aphid lineages were considered, originating from three plant-specialized populations, each adapted to a different plant species. The symbiotic status of aphid lineages was experimentally manipulated to mimic natural events of symbiont loss and acquisition through horizontal transfer. Host plant selection was then tested by releasing aphids in a cage containing three plant species (1 host and 2 non-hosts) and determining the proportion of aphids on each plant. Our results show minor effects of the symbiotic status on aphid host plant choice, indicating that this trait is determined primarily by the aphid genome.

中文翻译：

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共生菌得失对特定豌豆蚜基因型宿主植物选择的影响有限

昆虫与微生物相互作用的最新进展表明，微生物同伴可以调节其宿主的行为，例如防御或食物选择行为。对于植物吞噬性昆虫而言，寄主植物的选择至关重要，因为它们大多专注于少数几种植物，这些植物不仅代表其食物来源，而且通常代表其栖息地和繁殖地。因此，确定微生物共生物如何影响寄主植物的选择提供了有价值的信息，说明了它们在植物吞噬性昆虫的食物呼吸中的潜在作用。在这项研究中，我们调查了细菌共生体的丢失或获取是否能调节豌豆蚜虫蚜虫（半翅目：蚜虫）中宿主植物的选择。考虑了几种蚜虫谱系，它们来自三个植物专长种群，每种都适应不同的植物物种。通过实验控制蚜虫谱系的共生状态，以模仿自然发生的共生菌丢失和通过水平转移获得的事件。然后通过在包含三种植物物种（1种寄主和2种非寄主）的笼子中释放蚜虫并确定每种植物上蚜虫的比例来测试寄主植物的选择。我们的结果表明，共生状态对蚜虫寄主植物选择的影响较小，表明该性状主要由蚜虫基因组决定。然后通过在包含三种植物物种（1种寄主和2种非寄主）的笼子中释放蚜虫并确定每种植物上蚜虫的比例来测试寄主植物的选择。我们的结果表明，共生状态对蚜虫寄主植物选择的影响较小，表明该性状主要由蚜虫基因组决定。然后通过在包含三种植物物种（1种寄主和2种非寄主）的笼子中释放蚜虫并确定每种植物上蚜虫的比例来测试寄主植物的选择。我们的结果表明，共生状态对蚜虫寄主植物选择的影响较小，表明该性状主要由蚜虫基因组决定。