植食性昆虫、植物和共生微生物的功能关联

植食性昆虫和植物均能与微生物形成密切关系,它们各自的生态功能及相互关系也常被共生微生物所影响。近年来,随着分子水平研究方法的进展,植食性昆虫和植物中很多可遗传共生微生物(细菌、真菌等)被发现。共生微生物能够在营养、生殖、防御和解毒等方面给宿主带来显著影响,并与宿主形成竞争、互利或寄生等关系。植食性昆虫体内的含菌胞、肠道、血淋巴、唾液腺等常含有重要功能的共生微生物。新的分子生物学手段和高通量测序技术的应用使得我们能够增加对宿主和共生微生物(即使处于低丰度)之间关系的了解。尝试总结植食性昆虫和植物共生微生物的多样性及其关系、昆虫和植物互作机制、昆虫共生菌解毒植物毒素等方面的研究,突出强调应以系统观思维来理解共生微生物、植食性昆虫和植物间的功能关联,就将来值得研究的问题提出了建议。

Functional interactions among phytophagous insects,plants and microbial symbionts

Phytophagous insects and plants have intimate relationships with microbes that might influence their own ecological functions and interactions among them. Due to the advances in molecular studies and techniques, high diversity of heritable symbionts (e.g. bacteria, fungi) have been identified in both phytophagous insects and plants. Symbiotic microbes are present in hosts as a hologenome and influence biological processes such as nutrition, reproduction, defense and detoxification of toxins. Symbiotic relations may be competitive, mutualistic or parasitic. These interactions are frequently facilitated by other environmental microbes. Phytophagous insects can harbor symbionts in their bacteriocytes, gut, haemolymph and salivary glands. New molecular techniques and high throughput sequencing have increased the possibilities to explain the interactions even in low prevalence of symbionts. By summarizing recent evidence on different aspects such as the diversity of symbionts in phytophagous insects and plants and the interactions between them, mechanisms of insect-plant interactions, and detoxification of plant toxins by insect symbionts, here we emphasize the importance of understanding functional interaction networks among microbial symbionts, phytophagous insects and plants with a systems perspective, and provid our views on future research topics.