Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Aug 26.
doi: 10.1002/ps.70167. Online ahead of print.

Rickettsia symbionts favor whitefly ovary development by promoting germ cell mitosis

Nai-Fei Chen #  1   2 , Xin-Yu Ma #  1   2 , Ji-Sheng Hong  1   2 , Jun-Bo Luan  1   2
Affiliations

Rickettsia symbionts favor whitefly ovary development by promoting germ cell mitosis

Nai-Fei Chen et al. Pest Manag Sci. .

Abstract

Background: Maternally inherited symbionts can impact the reproduction of their host insects in various ways. The ovary is critical for the successful reproduction of female insects. Such symbionts have strong ovary tropism. Intracellular symbionts depend on host cells for replication and transmission. However, the cellular mechanisms by which symbionts impact insect reproduction through affecting ovary development have seldom been investigated. Our previous work has shown that the facultative symbiont Rickettsia can be vertically transmitted through eggs in the whitefly Bemisia tabaci and Rickettsia increases female fecundity. This study is aimed to explore the cellular mechanisms of Rickettsia symbionts affecting the whitefly fecundity.

Results: We found that Rickettsia symbionts are highly concentrated in the tropharium of whitefly ovarioles. We demonstrated that Rickettsia increases whitefly fecundity by promoting ovary development. Moreover, Rickettsia enhances the expression of cell division genes (Cyclin B1 and CDK1) and germ cell mitosis. Furthermore, Cyclin B1 and CDK1 gene silencing or CDK1 inhibitor treatment reduced the germ cell mitosis, delayed ovary development and decreased whitefly fecundity.

Conclusion: Overall, we revealed that Rickettsia promotes ovary development by regulating germ cell mitosis, which enhances whitefly fecundity. These findings suggest that regulating the host cell cycle by the symbiont is important for the maintenance of the intracellular symbiosis. This study provides new insights into the cellular mechanism of symbionts regulating host reproduction. Our study also provides excellent genetic targets for insect control. © 2025 Society of Chemical Industry.

Keywords: Bemisia tabaci; Rickettsia; cell division; fecundity; mitosis; ovary development.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. Douglas AE, Multiorganismal insects: diversity and function of resident microorganisms. Annu Rev Entomol 60:17–34 (2015).
    1. Werren JH, Baldo L and Clark ME, Wolbachia: master manipulators of invertebrate biology. Nat Rev Microbiol 6:741–751 (2008).
    1. Hurst GD and Frost CL, Reproductive parasitism: maternally inherited symbionts in a biparental world. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol 7:a017699 (2015).
    1. Fast EM, Toomey ME, Panaram K, Desjardins D, Kolaczyk ED and Frydman HM, Wolbachia enhance drosophila stem cell proliferation and target the germline stem cell niche. Science 334:990–992 (2011).
    1. Liu BQ, Bao XY, Yan JY, Zhang D, Sun X, Li CQ et al., Rickettsia symbionts spread via mixed mode transmission, increasing female fecundity and sex ratio shift by host hormone modulating. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 121:e2406788121 (2024).

LinkOut - more resources