Irene Pham / Biology / Faculty Mentor: Alison Ravenscraft
Leptoglossus phyllopus, commonly known as the Eastern Leaf-Footed bug, is a polyphagous agricultural pest. However, unlike most insects that rely on vertical transmission of the gut microbiome to survive, Leptoglossus phyllopus acquires their symbiont, Caballeronia, from the environment. Acquisition of the symbiont is crucial to the development and mortality rate of L. phyllopus. Previous studies have quantified the lowest number of symbiont cells required to infect the host; however, the impact of initial symbiont inoculation density on host fitness has not been explored. In the following report, we investigated the effect of three different symbiont inoculation (low, medium, and high) densities on the development and mortality rate of L. phyllopus. Our results suggest that the symbiont inoculation density did not significantly affect the mass and development time of L. phyllopus, indicating that the density of the initial symbiont inoculation does not impact host fitness outcome. Future studies using lower symbiont inoculation density and diverse symbiont populations should be done to emulate real-life conditions.
Leave a Reply