Metabolic conversions allow organisms to produce essential metabolites from the available nutrients in an environment, frequently requiring metabolic exchanges among co-inhabiting organisms. Here, we applied genomic-based simulations for exploring tri-trophic interactions among the sap-feeding insect whitefly (Bemisia tabaci), its host-plants, and symbiotic bacteria. The simplicity of this ecosystem allows capturing the interacting organisms (based on genomic data) and the environmental content (based on metabolomics data). Simulations explored the metabolic capacities of insect-symbiont combinations under environments representing natural phloem. Predictions were correlated with experimental data on the dynamics of symbionts under different diets. Simulation outcomes depict a puzzle of three-layer origins (plant-insect-symbionts) for the source of essential metabolites across habitats and stratify interactions enabling the whitefly to feed on diverse hosts. In parallel to simulations, natural and artificial feeding experiments provide supporting evidence for an environment-based effect on symbiont dynamics. Based on simulations, a decrease in the relative abundance of a symbiont can be associated with a loss of fitness advantage due to an environmental excess in amino-acids whose production in a deprived environment used to depend on the symbiont. The study demonstrates that genomic-based predictions can bridge environment and community dynamics and guide the design of symbiont manipulation strategies.

中文翻译：

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一种用于模拟三营养网络的生态系统生物学方法揭示了膳食氨基酸对烟粉虱共生体动力学的影响

代谢转化允许生物体从环境中可用的营养物质中产生必需的代谢物，这通常需要共同居住的生物体之间进行代谢交换。在这里，我们应用基于基因组的模拟来探索以汁液为食的昆虫粉虱（Bemisia tabaci)、其宿主植物和共生细菌。这个生态系统的简单性允许捕获相互作用的生物（基于基因组数据）和环境内容（基于代谢组学数据）。模拟探索了昆虫-共生体组合在代表天然韧皮部的环境下的代谢能力。预测与不同饮食下共生体动力学的实验数据相关。模拟结果描绘了一个三层起源（植物 - 昆虫 - 共生体）的谜题，用于跨越栖息地的基本代谢物和分层相互作用，使粉虱能够以不同的宿主为食。在模拟的同时，自然和人工喂养实验为基于环境的共生动力学影响提供了支持证据。根据模拟，由于环境中氨基酸的过量，共生体相对丰度的减少可能与适应性优势的丧失有关，而氨基酸在过去的贫困环境中的产生依赖于共生体。该研究表明，基于基因组的预测可以弥合环境和社区动态，并指导共生操纵策略的设计。