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Riptortus pedestris , a common pest in soybean fields, harbors a symbiont Burkholderia in a specialized posterior midgut region of insects. Every generation of second nymphs acquires new Burkholderia cells from the environment. We compared in vitro cultured Burkholderia with newly in vivo colonized Burkholderia in the host midgut using biochemical approaches. The bacterial cell envelope of in vitro cultured and in vivo Burkholderia differed in structure, as in vivo bacteria lacked lipopolysaccharide (LPS) O-antigen. The LPS O-antigen deficient bacteria had a reduced colonization rate in the host midgut compared with that of the wild-type Burkholderia . To determine why LPS O-antigen-deficient bacteria are less able to colonize the host midgut, we examined in vitro survival rates of three LPS O-antigen-deficient Burkholderia mutants and lysates of five different midgut regions. The LPS O-antigen-deficient mutants were highly susceptible when cultured with the lysate of a specific first midgut region (M1), indicating that the M1 lysate contains unidentified substance(s) capable of killing LPS O-antigen-deficient mutants. We identified a 17 kDa protein from the M1 lysate, which was enriched in the active fractions. The N-terminal sequence of the protein was determined to be a soybean Kunitz-type trypsin inhibitor. These data suggest that the 17 kDa protein, which was originated from a main soybean source of the R. pedestris host, has antibacterial activity against the LPS O-antigen deficient (rough-type) Burkholderia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most insects are symbiotically associated with bacteria. In an insect-bacteria symbiosis, understanding the mechanisms of bacterial persistence in the presence of host immunity is an important question to answer. Recently, bean bugs possessing Burkholderia symbiont in their midgut region have been recognized as a useful insect model to study symbiosis mechanisms at the molecular level. In the bean bug symbiosis, the Burkholderia symbionts positively affect the immunity of bean bugs, and the immunity of bean bugs regulates the population of the symbionts. The symbiotic association with the host induces drastic changes in the cell envelope of the Burkholderia symbionts, which make the Burkholderia symbionts become highly susceptible to the host's immunity. However, the bean bug suppresses the immune responses of the symbiotic midgut region to support the survival of the immune-susceptible Burkholderia symbionts. The bean bug-Burkholderia studies demonstrate the intricate interplay between symbiosis and immunity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trehalose, a nonreducing disaccharide, functions as a stress protectant in many organisms, including bacteria. In symbioses involving bacteria, the bacteria have to overcome various stressors to associate with their hosts; thus, trehalose biosynthesis may be important for symbiotic bacteria. Here, we investigated the role of trehalose biosynthesis in the Burkholderia -bean bug symbiosis. Expression levels of two trehalose biosynthesis genes, otsA and treS , were elevated in symbiotic Burkholderia insecticola cells, and hence mutant Δ otsA and Δ treS strains were generated to examine the functions of these genes in symbiosis. An in vivo competition assay with the wild-type strain revealed that fewer Δ otsA cells, but not Δ treS cells, colonized the host symbiotic organ, the M4 midgut, than wild-type cells. The Δ otsA strain was susceptible to osmotic pressure generated by high salt or high sucrose concentrations, suggesting that the reduced symbiotic competitiveness of the Δ otsA strain was due to the loss of stress resistance. We further demonstrated that fewer Δ otsA cells infected the M4 midgut initially but that fifth-instar nymphs exhibited similar symbiont population size as the wild-type strain. Together, these results demonstrated that the stress resistance role of otsA is important for B. insecticola to overcome the stresses it encounters during passage through the midgut regions to M4 in the initial infection stage but plays no role in resistance to stresses inside the M4 midgut in the persistent stage. IMPORTANCE Symbiotic bacteria have to overcome stressful conditions present in association with the host. In the Burkholderia -bean bug symbiosis, we speculated that a stress-resistant function of Burkholderia is important and that trehalose, known as a stress protectant, plays a role in the symbiotic association. Using otsA , the trehalose biosynthesis gene, and a mutant strain, we demonstrated that otsA confers Burkholderia with competitiveness when establishing a symbiotic association with bean bugs, especially playing a role in initial infection stage. In vitro assays revealed that otsA provides the resistance against osmotic stresses. Hemipteran insects, including bean bugs, feed on plant phloem sap, which may lead to high osmotic pressures in the midguts of hemipterans. Our results indicated that the stress-resistant role of otsA is important for Burkholderia to overcome the osmotic stresses present during the passage through midgut regions to reach the symbiotic organ.