Multichannel highly secure wireless communication system with information camouflage capability.

Information metasurface has shown great potential in wireless communications owing to its ability to flexibly control electromagnetic waves. However, it is still a big challenge to achieve high-security and large-channel capacity wireless communications by a simple system. Here, we propose a space-polarization-division multiplexing secure wireless communication system with information camouflage capability based on the information metasurface, which can realize multichannel encrypted wireless communications with different polarization coding strategies independently and simultaneously. A polarization mask key is introduced to encrypt the target message, and the cipher message is further concealed behind a cover image with steganography and sent to the user by using the polarization modulation strategy. Different polarization mask keys can be adopted in each individual communication by changing the polarization coding strategy to enhance the system security. The proposed scheme integrates computational algorithm encryption and physical layer security together and thus has the advantages of high security, large channel capacity, and strong camouflage ability.

Tetracycline inhibits tick host reproduction by modulating bacterial microbiota, gene expression and metabolism levels.

BACKGROUND: Ticks are disease vectors that are a matter of worldwide concern. Antibiotic treatments have been used to explore the interactions between ticks and their symbiotic microorganisms. In addition to altering the host microbial community, antibiotics can have toxic effects on the host. RESULTS: In the tick Haemaphysalis longicornis, engorged females showed reproductive disruption after microinjection of tetracycline. Multi-omics approaches were implemented to unravel the mechanisms of tick reproductive inhibition in this study. There were no significant changes in bacterial density in the whole ticks on Day (D)2 or D4 after tetracycline treatment, whereas the bacterial microbial community was significantly altered, especially on D4. The relative abundances of the bacteria Staphylococcus, Bacillus and Pseudomonas decreased after tetracycline treatment, whereas the relative abundances of Coxiella and Rhodococcus increased. Ovarian transcriptional analysis revealed a cumulative effect of tetracycline treatment, as there was a significant increase in the number of differentially expressed genes with treatment time and a higher number of downregulated genes. The tick physiological pathways including lysosome, extracellular matrix (ECM)-receptor interaction, biosynthesis of ubiquinone and other terpenoids-quinones, insect hormone biosynthesis, and focal adhesion were significantly inhibited after 4 days of tetracycline treatment. Metabolite levels were altered after tetracycline treatment and the differences increased with treatment time. The differential metabolites were involved in a variety of physiological pathways; the downregulated metabolites were significantly enriched in the nicotinate and nicotinamide metabolism, galactose metabolism, and ether lipid metabolism pathways. CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate that tetracycline inhibits tick reproduction through the regulation of tick bacterial communities, gene expression and metabolic levels. The results may provide new strategies for tick control. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.

Computer-Vision Based Gesture-Metasurface Interaction System for Beam Manipulation and Wireless Communication.

Hand gesture plays an important role in many circumstances, which is one of the most common interactive methods in daily life, especially for disabled people. Human-machine interaction is another popular research topic to realize direct and efficient control, making machines intelligent and maneuverable. Here, a special human-machine interaction system is proposed and namedas computer-vision (CV) based gesture-metasurface interaction (GMI) system, which can be used for both direct beam manipulations and real-time wireless communications. The GMI system first needs to select its working mode according to the gesture command to determine whether to perform beam manipulations or wireless communications, and then validate the permission for further operation by recognizing unlocking gesture to ensure security. Both beam manipulation and wireless communication functions are validated experimentally, which show that the GMI system can not only realize real-time switching and remote control of different beams through gesture command, but also communicate with a remote computer in real time by translating the gesture language to text message. The proposed non-contact GMI system has the advantages of good interactivity, high flexibility, and multiple functions, which can find potential applications in community security, gesture-command smart home, barrier-free communications, and so on.

Mechanism of the toxic effects of tetracycline on blood meal digestion in Haemaphysalis longicornis.

The extensive utilization of antibiotics in the field of animal husbandry gives rise to various concerns pertaining to the environment and human health. Here, we demonstrate that the administration of tetracycline impedes blood meal digestion in the tick Haemaphysalis longicornis. Tissue sectioning, 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing, and transcriptome sequencing of the midgut were employed to elucidate the mechanism underlying tetracycline toxicity. The treatment group consisted of engorged female ticks that were subjected to tetracycline microinjections (75 µg per tick), whereas the control group received sterile water injections. On days 2 and 4 following the injections, the tick body weight changes were assessed and the midguts were dissected and processed. Change in tick body weight in tetracycline-treated group was less than in the control group. In tetracycline-treated ticks, midgut epithelial cells were loosely connected and blood meal digestion was impaired compared to the control group. There was no significant change in midgut bacterial diversity after tetracycline treatment. On day 2 following treatment, the relative abundance of Escherichia-Shigella was significantly decreased, whereas the relative abundance of Allorhizobium was significantly increased compared to the control group. On day 4 following treatment, the relative abundance of Escherichia-Shigella, Allorhizobium, Ochrobactrum, and Acidibacter decreased significantly, whereas the relative abundance of Paraburkholderia and Pelomonas increased significantly. Tetracycline treatment also affected midgut gene expression, producing a cumulative effect wherein the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were mostly down-regulated. KEGG enrichment pathway analysis revealed that on day 2 the up-regulated DEGs were significantly enriched in 21 pathways, including apoptosis and phagosome. Comparatively, the down-regulated DEGs were significantly enriched in 26 pathways, including N-glycan biosynthesis, lysosome, and autophagy. In contrast, on day 4 the up-regulated DEGs were significantly enriched in 10 pathways including aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis, ribosome biogenesis, RNA transport, and DNA replication, whereas the down-regulated differential genes were significantly enriched in 11 pathways including lysosome, peroxisome, N-glycan biosynthesis, and fatty acid synthesis. This indicates that tetracycline injection inhibited blood meal digestion by affecting midgut digestive cells, gut flora diversity, and gene expression. These findings could contribute to tick control by inhibiting blood meal digestion.

Growth dynamics and tissue localization of a Coxiella-like endosymbiont in the tick Haemaphysalis longicornis.

A Coxiella-like endosymbiont (Coxiella-LE hereinafter) stably infects and influences Haemaphysalis longicornis development, indicating a mutualistic relationship of Coxiella-LE and ticks. To further elucidate the patterns of growth dynamics and tissue localization of Coxiella-LE in H. longicornis, 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing, quantitative PCR (qPCR), and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) were used in this study. The density of Coxiella-LE varied among different tick life stages, and fed female ticks had the highest density, followed by unfed female and unfed larval ticks. In the four organs that were dissected from fed female ticks, the ovary carried the highest density of Coxiella-LE, which was significantly different from salivary glands, midgut and Malpighian tubules. The high abundance of Coxiella-LE in fed female ticks and in the ovaries of fed female ticks in the bacterial microbiota analyses further confirmed that Coxiella-LE rapidly proliferates in the ovary after blood feeding. The ovaries continued to develop after engorgement and oviposition began on day 5, with a significant decrease in the density of Coxiella-LE in the ovaries occurring on day 7. FISH results indicated that Coxiella-LE is mainly colonized in the cytoplasm of the oocyte and proliferates with oogenesis. Coxiella-LE was expelled from the body with the mature oocyte, ensuring its vertical transmission. In the Malpighian tubules at different days after engorgement, the white flocculent materials were increasing, and the density of Coxiella-LE raised significantly on day 7. Unlike the localization pattern in the ovary, Coxiella-LE was initially distributed in a mass and continually increased during the development of Malpighian tubules until it filled the Malpighian tubules. These findings provide new insights on the growth dynamics and tissue localization of Coxiella-LE in ticks and are useful for further investigation on the interactions of symbiont and ticks .

Broadband and Programmable Amplitude-Phase-Joint-Coding Information Metasurface.

Information metasurfaces have attracted much attention in recent years due to the capability to link the physical world and information science. However, most of the current information metasurfaces are either phase-only coding or amplitude-only coding, limiting their functions and applications. Here, a broadband and programmable amplitude-phase-joint-coding (APJC) information metasurface is proposed and experimentally demonstrated, from which the phase and amplitude of reflected electromagnetic waves can be independently controlled by adjusting the bias voltage of PIN diode integrated in the meta-atom. In particular, the reflection amplitude can be continuously controlled from 0.1 to 0.9, and the reflection phase can be switched between two states with about 180° phase difference. Thus, the proposed metasurface is capable of realizing independent 1-bit or multibit amplitude coding and 1-bit phase coding, and both of them can be reprogrammed in real time in broad band from 8 to 13 GHz. The abilities of the programmable APJC information metasurface in manipulating the electromagnetic waves are demonstrated by both numerical simulations and experiments, including to suppress the sidelobes of scattering beam, generate the diffractive waves with arbitrary magnitudes, and so on. These results show unique advantages of APJC information metasurface in real-time independent controls of energy allocation and wavefront tailoring of the electromagnetic waves in a wide frequency band.

Bacterial microbiota analysis demonstrates that ticks can acquire bacteria from habitat and host blood meal.

Ticks have a diversity of habitats and host blood meals. Whether and how factors such as tick developmental stages, habitats and host blood meals affect tick bacterial microbiota is poorly elucidated. In the present study, we investigated the bacterial microbiotas of the hard tick Haemaphysalis longicornis, their blood meals and habitats using 16S rRNA gene high-throughput sequencing. The bacterial richness and diversity in ticks varied depending on the tick developmental stage and feeding status. Results showed that fed ticks present a higher bacterial richness suggesting that ticks may acquire bacteria from blood meals. The significant overlap of the bacteria of fed ticks and the host blood also supports this possibility. Another possibility is that blood meals can stimulate the proliferation of certain bacteria. However, most shared bacteria cannot transmit throughout the tick life cycle, as they were not present in tick eggs. The most shared bacteria between ticks and habitats are members of the genera Staphylococcus, Pseudomonas, Enterobacter, Acinetobacter and Stenotrophomonas, suggesting that these environmental bacteria cannot be completely washed away and can be acquired by ticks. The predominant proportion of Coxiella in fed females further demonstrates that this genus is involved in H. longicornis physiology, such as feeding activity and nutritional provision. These findings further reveal that the bacterial composition of ticks is influenced by a variety of factors and will help in subsequent studies of the function of these bacteria.

The mitochondrial genome of the ornate sheep tick, Dermacentor marginatus.

The ornate sheep tick, Dermacentor marginatus, is widespread in Europe. Its vector role of various zoonotic pathogens received much attention in these regions. However, the genomic resources of the ticks are limited. In this study, the complete mitochondrial genome of a single female D. marginatus collected in Slovakia was sequenced through the Illumina HiSeq sequencing platform. The mitochondrial genome is 15,067 bp long and contains 13 protein-coding genes, two ribosomal RNA genes and 22 transfer RNA genes. The overall G+C content is 21.6%. The gene order is identical to that of Metastriata ticks. The codon usage pattern is similar with that of other tick species. As in other ticks, two truncated tRNA genes were observed. Two control regions were found between tRNA-Leu and tRNA-Cys, tRNA-Ile and rrnS, respectively. The mitochondrial genome contains three noncoding regions, which is similar to that in D. nitens. The noncoding region located between rrnS and tRNA-Val is shorter than that of other Dermacentor species. Phylogenetic analyses indicate that D. marginatus is clustered with other Dermacentor species. These findings are helpful for exploring the systematics and evolution of ticks in the future.

The bacterial microbiome of field-collected Dermacentor marginatus and Dermacentor reticulatus from Slovakia.

BACKGROUND: The important roles of microbial flora in tick biology and ecology have received much attention. Dermacentor marginatus and Dermacentor reticulatus are known vectors of various pathogens across Europe, including Slovakia. However, their bacterial microbiomes are poorly explored. METHODS: In this study, bacterial microbiomes of field-collected D. marginatus and D. reticulatus from Slovakia were characterized using 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing. RESULTS: Different analyses demonstrated that the D. marginatus and D. reticulatus microbiomes differ in their diversity and taxonomic structures. Furthermore, species- and sex-specific bacteria were detected in the two species. A possible bacterial pathogen "Candidatus Rhabdochlamydia sp." was detected from D. marginatus males. Among the observed bacteria, Rickettsia showed high abundance in the two species. Several maternally inherited bacteria such as Coxiella, Arsenophonus, Spiroplasma, Francisella and Rickettsiella, were abundant, and their relative abundance varied depending on tick species and sex, suggesting their biological roles in the two species. CONCLUSIONS: The bacterial microbiomes of field-collected D. marginatus and D. reticulatus were shaped by tick phylogeny and sex. Maternally inherited bacteria were abundant in the two species. These findings are valuable for understanding tick-bacteria interactions, biology and vector competence of ticks.

Ticks (Acari: Ixodoidea) in China: Geographical distribution, host diversity, and specificity.

Ticks are obligate blood-sucking ectoparasites, which not only directly damage through bites but also transmit many pathogens. China has a high diversity of tick species, 125 species have been reported, including 111 hard tick and 14 soft tick species. Many of the ticks are important vectors of pathogens, resulting in zoonoses. The dynamics of ticks are affected by both the host and habitat environment. However, systematic studies on the geographical distribution, host diversity, and specificity of ticks are limited in China. To achieve this goal, the relevant available data were summarized and analyzed in this study. Ticks are distributed in all parts of China and Xinjiang has the most records of ticks. The distribution of ticks in adjacent areas is similar, indicating that the habitat environment affects their distribution. Most ticks are widely distributed, whereas some species are endemic to their distributed regions. Ticks are parasitic on mammals, birds, and reptiles, of which mammals are the main host species. Overall, most ticks parasitize different hosts, only a few ticks have strict host specificity, such as ticks that are specifically parasitic on reptiles and bats. In addition, environmental changes and control efforts also influence the dynamics of ticks. These results can better reveal tick biological traits and are valuable for tick control.

Symbiont-conferred reproduction and fitness benefits can favour their host occurrence.

Double infections of Wolbachia and Spiroplasma are frequent in natural populations of Tetranychus truncatus, a polyphagous mite species that has been a dominant species in China since 2009. However, little is known about the causes and ecological importance of such coexistences. In this study, we established T. truncatus strains with different infection types and then inferred the impact of the two endosymbionts on host reproduction and fitness. Double infection induced cytoplasmic incompatibility, which was demonstrated by reduction in egg hatchability of incompatible crosses. However, doubly infected females produced more eggs relative to other strains. Wolbachia and Spiroplasma did not affect host survival, whereas doubly infected females and males developed faster than other strains. Such reproduction and fitness benefits provided by double infections may be associated with the lower densities of each symbiont, and the quantitative results also confirmed competition between Wolbachia and Spiroplasma in doubly infected females. These symbiont-conferred beneficial effects maintain stable prevalence of the symbionts and also help drive T. truncatus outbreaks in combination with other environmental factors.

Incidence of Facultative Bacterial Endosymbionts in Spider Mites Associated with Local Environments and Host Plants.

Spider mites are frequently associated with multiple endosymbionts whose infection patterns often exhibit spatial and temporal variation. However, the association between endosymbiont prevalence and environmental factors remains unclear. Here, we surveyed endosymbionts in natural populations of the spider mite, Tetranychus truncatus, in China, screening 935 spider mites from 21 localities and 12 host plant species. Three facultative endosymbiont lineages, Wolbachia, Cardinium, and Spiroplasma, were detected at different infection frequencies (52.5%, 26.3%, and 8.6%, respectively). Multiple endosymbiont infections were observed in most local populations, and the incidence of individuals with the Wolbachia-Spiroplasma coinfection was higher than expected from the frequency of each infection within a population. Endosymbiont infection frequencies exhibited associations with environmental factors: Wolbachia infection rates increased at localities with higher annual mean temperatures, while Cardinium and Spiroplasma infection rates increased at localities from higher altitudes. Wolbachia was more common in mites from Lycopersicon esculentum and Glycine max compared to those from Zea mays This study highlights that host-endosymbiont interactions may be associated with environmental factors, including climate and other geographically linked factors, as well as the host's food plant.IMPORTANCE The aim of this study was to examine the incidence of endosymbiont distribution and the infection patterns in spider mites. The main findings are that multiple endosymbiont infections were more common than expected and that endosymbiont infection frequencies were associated with environmental factors. This work highlights that host-endosymbiont interactions need to be studied within an environmental and geographic context.

Wolbachia-induced loss of male fertility is likely related to branch chain amino acid biosynthesis and iLvE in Laodelphax striatellus.

Wolbachia are endosymbionts that infect many species of arthropods and nematodes. Wolbachia-induced cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) is the most common phenotype in affected hosts, involving embryonic lethality in crosses between Wolbachia-infected males and uninfected females. The molecular mechanisms underlying this phenomenon are currently unclear. Here we examine the molecular correlates of the Wolbachia infection in Laodelphax striatellus (Fallén), an important rice pest, where embryonic lethality is strong and almost complete. We compared the gene expression of 4-day-old Wolbachia-infected and uninfected L. striatellus testes to identify candidate genes for paternal-effect embryonic lethality induction. Based on microarray analysis, iLvE was the most down-regulated gene; this gene mediates branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) biosynthesis and participates in many processes related to reproductive performance. After knocking down iLvE by RNAi in uninfected male L. striatellus, male fertility was reduced, leading to a decrease in embryo hatching rates, but fertility was rescued in crosses between these males and Wolbachia-infected females. Removal of BCAA in chemically-defined diets of uninfected males also led to a loss of male fertility. Low amino acid nutrition may enhance exposure time of sperm to Wolbachia in the testes to affect adult reproduction in L. striatellus by reducing the number of sperm transferred per mating by males. These results indicate that Wolbachia may decrease male fertility in L. striatellus by acting on iLvE, a key factor of BCAA biosynthesis, and delaying sperm maturation.

Screening of spider mites (Acari: Tetranychidae) for reproductive endosymbionts reveals links between co-infection and evolutionary history.

Reproductive endosymbionts have been shown to have wide-ranging effects on many aspects of their hosts' biology. A first step to understanding how these endosymbionts interact with their hosts is to determine their incidences. Here, we screened for four reproductive endosymbionts (Wolbachia, Cardinium, Spiroplasma and Rickettsia) in 28 populations of spider mites (Acari: Tetranychidae) representing 12 species. Each of the four endosymbionts were identified in at least some of the tested specimens, and their infection patterns showed variations at the species-level and population-level, suggesting their distributions can be correlated with both the phylogeny and ecology of the hosts. Co-infections of unrelated bacteria, especially double infections of Wolbachia and Cardinium within the same individuals were common. Spiroplasma and Rickettsia infections were specific to particular host species, respectively. Further, the evolutionary histories of these endosymbionts were inferred by comparing the phylogenies of them and their hosts. These findings can help to clarify the interactions between endosymbionts and arthropods.

Infection Rate Assay by Nested PCR and the Phylogenetic Analysis of Himetobi P Virus in the Main Pests of Rice-Wheat Cropping Systems.

Himetobi P virus (HiPV) is an ssRNA in the family Dicistroviridae that infects rice pests belonging to Hemiptera. To determine its host range, a nested PCR method was designed to detect HiPV in some of the main rice pests (Hemiptera) in eastern China. The incidence of infection in the grain aphid Sitobion avenae Fabricius (Hemiptera: Aphididae) was low (3%), while high incidences of infection occurred in the planthoppers Laodelphax striatellus (Fallén) (Hemiptera: Delphacidae) (100%) and Nilaparvata lugens (Hemiptera: Delphacidae) (51%) and in the leafhoppers Cicadella viridis (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) (90%) and Nephotettix cincticeps (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) (57%). Phylogenetic analysis by maximum likelihood tree and median-joining networks implied the HiPVs from the same hosts were genetically close. Neutral equilibrium evolution for the polymorphism data was tested by the Tajima's D test and by Fu and Li's D and F tests. Test values were negative, which indicates a selection on the HiPV haplotypes. We sequenced the complete genome sequence of HiPV to look for evidence of recombination. We identified a recombination event in which two genomes recombined in the region of ORF2. The two open reading frames of the HiPV had been selected with low Ka/Ks ratios compared with two previous genome sequences.

Wnt/Ryk signaling contributes to neuropathic pain by regulating sensory neuron excitability and spinal synaptic plasticity in rats.

Treating neuropathic pain continues to be a major clinical challenge and underlying mechanisms of neuropathic pain remain elusive. We have recently demonstrated that Wnt signaling, which is important in developmental processes of the nervous systems, plays critical roles in the development of neuropathic pain through the ß-catenin-dependent pathway in the spinal cord and the ß-catenin-independent pathway in primary sensory neurons after nerve injury. Here, we report that Wnt signaling may contribute to neuropathic pain through the atypical Wnt/Ryk signaling pathway in rats. Sciatic nerve injury causes a rapid-onset and long-lasting expression of Wnt3a, Wnt5b, and Ryk receptors in primary sensory neurons, and dorsal horn neurons and astrocytes. Spinal blocking of the Wnt/Ryk receptor signaling inhibits the induction and persistence of neuropathic pain without affecting normal pain sensitivity and locomotor activity. Blocking activation of the Ryk receptor with anti-Ryk antibody, in vivo or in vitro, greatly suppresses nerve injury-induced increased intracellular Ca and hyperexcitability of the sensory neurons, and also the enhanced plasticity of synapses between afferent C-fibers and the dorsal horn neurons, and activation of the NR2B receptor and the subsequent Ca-dependent signals CaMKII, Src, ERK, PKCγ, and CREB in sensory neurons and the spinal cord. These findings indicate a critical mechanism underlying the pathogenesis of neuropathic pain and suggest that targeting the Wnt/Ryk signaling may be an effective approach for treating neuropathic pain.

Expression level and immunolocalization of de novo methyltransferase 3 protein (TuDNMT3) in adult females and males of the two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae.

DNA methylation is an epigenetic mechanism for regulating developmental and other important processes in eukaryotes. Several essential components of the DNA methylation machinery have been identified, such as DNA methyltransferases. In the two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch, we have identified one DNA methyltransferase 3 gene (Tudnmt3) and tentatively investigated its potential role in adult females and males. Here, to better elucidate the functional role of Tudnmt3, its protein structure, expression and localization were subjected to more detailed analyses. Bioinformatic analyses clearly showed that the structure of TuDNMT3 was highly conserved, with several vital amino acid residues for the activation and stabilization of its confirmation. Western blot analyses revealed that this protein was expressed in both genders, with higher expression in adult females, which was inconsistent with the gene expression, suggesting translational regulation of Tudnmt3. Subsequent immunodetection provided supportive evidence for higher expression of the TuDNMT3 protein in adult females and indicated that this protein was generally localized in the cytoplasm and that its expression was predominantly confined to the genital region of spider mites, strengthening the hypothesis that de novo methylation mediated by Tudnmt3 in gonad development or gametogenesis has a different mechanism from maintenance methyltransferase.

Evidence for high dispersal ability and mito-nuclear discordance in the small brown planthopper, Laodelphax striatellus.

Understanding dispersal ability in pest species is critical for both theoretical aspects of evolutionary and population biology and from a practical standpoint, such as implementing effective forecasting systems. The small brown planthopper (SBPH), Laodelphax striatellus (Fallén), is an economically important pest, but few data exist on its dispersal ability. Here, we used mitochondrial and nuclear markers to elucidate the population genetic structure of SBPH and of the parasitic bacterium Wolbachia throughout temperate and subtropical China. Our results showed that the SBPH populations in China lack significant differences in genetic structure, suggesting extensive gene flow. Multilocus sequence typing revealed that Wolbachia infection was systematic and due to the same strain (wStri) within and across populations. However, the mtDNA haplogroups had a nonrandom distribution across the sampling localities, which correlated to latitudinal and climatic gradients. We explain this mito-nuclear discordance as a result of historical population recolonization or mitochondria adaptation to climate.

Identification of Wolbachia-responsive microRNAs in the two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae.

BACKGROUND: The two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae, is infected with Wolbachia, which have the ability to manipulate host reproduction and fitness. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that are involved in many biological processes such as development, reproduction and host-pathogen interactions. Although miRNA was observed to involve in Wolbachia-host interactions in the other insect systems, its roles have not been fully deciphered in the two-spotted spider mite. RESULTS: Small RNA libraries of infected and uninfected T. urticae for both sexes (in total four libraries) were constructed. By integrating the mRNA data originated from the same samples, the target genes of the differentially expressed miRNAs were predicted. Then, GO and pathway analyses were performed for the target genes. Comparison of libraries showed that Wolbachia infection significantly regulated 91 miRNAs in females and 20 miRNAs in males, with an overall suppression of miRNAs in Wolbachia-infected libraries. A comparison of the miRNA and mRNA data predicted that the differentially expressed miRNAs negatively regulated 90 mRNAs in females and 9 mRNAs in males. An analysis of target genes showed that Wolbachia-responsive miRNAs regulated genes with function in sphingolipid metabolism, lysosome function, apoptosis and lipid transporting in both sexes, as well as reproduction in females. CONCLUSION: Comparisons of the miRNA and mRNA data can help to identify miRNAs and miRNA target genes involving in Wolbachia-host interactions. The molecular targets identified in this study should be useful in further functional studies.

Wolbachia play an important role in affecting mtDNA variation of Tetranychus truncatus (Trombidiformes: Tetranychidae).

The prevalence of the endosymbiont Wolbachia and its effects on mitochondria variation were analyzed in seven natural populations of Tetranychus truncatus Ehara (Trombidiformes: Tetranychidae) in current study. Five Wolbachia strains (wtru1, wtru5, wtru7, wtru8, and wtru12) were detected based on the surface protein of Wolbachia (wsp) sequence data and the multiple locus sequences typing data, suggesting that multiple separate invasions have occurred. Part of mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I gene was sequenced from infected individuals revealing 10 different haplotypes. As predicted, the haplotype and nucleotide diversity were lower in infected individuals than that in uninfected individuals. Furthermore, phylogenetic and analysis of molecular variance analyses revealed that the distribution of mtDNA haplotypes is not associated with geography. Rather, it is strongly concordant with infection status. These data support the hypothesis that Wolbachia infection can affect the genetic structure and diversity of the host mites.