Bacterial endosymbionts of Bactericera

Insects harbor bacterial endosymbionts that provide their hosts with nutritional benefit or with protection against natural enemies, plant defenses, insecticides, or abiotic stresses. We used high-throughput sequencing of the 16S rDNA gene to identify and compare endosymbiont communities of Bactericera maculipennis and the western, central, and northwestern haplotypes of B. cockerelli (Hemiptera: Psylloidea: Triozidae). Both species are native to North America, are known to harbor the plant pathogen Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum, and develop on shared host plants within the Convolvulaceae. The Old World species Heterotrioza chenopodii (Psylloidea: Triozidae), now found in North America, was included as an unrelated outgroup.