Diversity and geographic variation of endosymbiotic bacteria in natural populations of the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum, in China

l This
study firstly investigated species diversity and geographic variation of bacterial
symbionts of the pea aphid in China.

l Among
eight known endosymbionts, five (<i>Buchnera</i>, <i>Serratia</i>, <i>Hamiltonella</i>, <i>Regiella</i>, and <i>Rickettsia</i>) were detected, with a special geographical
distribution.

l The
bacterial communities of Chinese populations of the pea aphid were dominated by
Proteobacteria and Firmicutes, and mainly influenced by environmental factors.

l The
results can guide the development of potential biocontrol techniques against
this aphid.