Many previous ecological studies on three major bacterial symbionts and a newly discovered symbiont PAXS (pea aphid X-type symbiont) in the pea aphid Acrythosiphon pisum have shown that these symbionts are associated with the expression of a variety of host phenotypes, including resistance to parasitoid Aphidius ervi and tolerance to heat stress. The principal role of all four symbionts “Candidatus Serratia symbiotica”, “Candidatus Hamiltonella defensa”, “Candidatus Regiella insecticola”, and PAXS is to protect aphids against abiotic stress by preserving the cells in which most of symbionts dwell and by reducing the rate of parasitism. In this experiment, we detected endosymbionts from four aphid clones by means of genomic DNA extraction, PCR with gene specific primer, and restriction enzyme cutting. The patterns of PCR and restriction enzyme cutting were all identical in the four aphid clones. In order to specifically identify the endosymbiont, we searched the sequences using BLAST. The BLAST search revealed that nucleotide sequences of the symbiont were 98% identical to Serratia entomophil. S. entomophil is also known to provide tolerance to heat stress, resistance to parasitoid wasps, and restoration of reproduction in aphids, suggesting its role in host protection.

• Kyungjae Andrew Yoon(Department of Agricultural Biology, Seoul National University)
• Young Ho Kim(Research Institute for Agriculture and Life science, Seoul National University)
• Si Hyeock Lee(Department of Agricultural Biology, Seoul National University, Research Institute for Agriculture and Life science, Seoul National University)