Two Newly Introduced Endosymbionts Induce Cell Host Differences in Competitiveness and Metabolic Responses

endosymbionts can induce multiple reproductive manipulations in their hosts, with cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) being one of the most common manipulations. Two important agricultural pests, the white-backed planthopper (Sogatella furcifera) and the brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens), are usually infected with CI-inducing strain Fur and non-CI-inducing strain Lug, respectively. The biological effects of these infections when present in a host cell are unknown. Here, we introduced the two strains into an Aedes albopictus cell line to stably establish a Fur-infected cell line (WFI) and a Lug-infected cell line (WLI). In a mixed culture, WFI cells were completely replaced by WLI cells, pointing to a stronger competitiveness of the WLI cell line. We found that infection by both strains reduced cell growth rates, but WLI had a higher cell growth rate than WFI, and this difference in cell growth rate combined with possible differences in diffusivity may have affected cell competitiveness. By examining gene expression and metabolites in the two lines, we found that some genes and key metabolites responded to differences in cell competitiveness. These results point to potential mechanisms that could contribute to the relative performance of hosts infected by these strains and also highlight the substantial impact of a non-CI on metabolism, which may in turn influence the fitness of its native host. transinfection in insects can be used to suppress pests and block virus transmission. We stably introduced two strains from rice planthoppers into cell lines of an important arbovirus mosquito vector, Aedes albopictus. The levels of competitiveness of host cells from the lines infected by the two strains were different, as were metabolic responses of the cell lines. These results suggest potential metabolic effects of on native hosts that could be exploited when they are transinfected into novel hosts for pest control.