Water deficit and aphid resilience on wheat: examining Sitobion avenaeF. and their bacterial symbionts interplay under controlled laboratory conditions

Abstract BACKGROUND Climate change has far‐reaching effects on food security and agriculture, affecting crop yields and food distribution. Agriculture relies heavily on water for irrigation and production, making it vulnerable to water scarcity. Additionally, climate change can affect crop pest insects, leading to increased global crop losses, particularly in cereals, an important component of the human diet. Aphids are major crop pests and have a symbiotic relationship with bacterial endosymbionts that can contribute to their success as pests under a climate change scenario. To test the effect of drought on aphids, we examined varying levels of water deficit and endosymbiont composition on the grain aphid ( Sitobion avenae ) performance on wheat under controlled laboratory conditions. We measured the intrinsic rate of population increase ( r m ), the body weight of adult aphids, and the pre‐reproductive period for different genotypes of the grain aphid (including Chilean superclones) under different irrigation regimes. We also analyzed the relative abundance of their endosymbionts under the different water treatments. RESULTS Our findings revealed that water deficit affects each aphid genotype differently, impacting various traits. For instance, the body weight of adult aphids was notably affected by different water treatments, with aphids grown under intermediate water deficit (IW) being significantly bigger. The relative abundance of endosymbionts also varied among genotypes and water treatments—specifically Regiella insecticola had a noticeably higher abundance under IW ( P < 0.05). CONCLUSION This study provides valuable insights into the impact of water deficit on aphid performance and the role of endosymbionts in mitigating the effects of water deficit. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.