Comparative Study of the Composition and Function of Endosymbiont Communities in Two Tea Plantation Planthoppers

The planthopper pests Geisha distinctissima and Ricanula fujianensis are major threats to tea plantations. Although insect endosymbionts are functionally important, their communities in these pests are poorly understood. This study, conducted in the representative tea-growing region of Guiyang in southwestern China, employed high-throughput sequencing to analyze the bacterial and fungal endosymbionts of both species. We found that bacterial communities were dominated by Proteobacteria and Firmicutes, with core genera such as Enterobacter and Rickettsia showing significant interspecific variation. Fungal communities were primarily composed of Ascomycota and Basidiomycota, and key genera like Fusarium exhibited host-specific patterns. Most notably, we discovered an intriguing pattern: bacterial communities differed in structure but showed conserved predicted functions, whereas fungal communities were structurally similar yet functionally divergent. This suggests that bacterial symbionts may underpin core physiological stability, while fungal symbionts could act as key drivers of host-specific adaptation. These results provide critical insights into planthopper–microbe interactions and establish a theoretical basis for developing targeted, microbiome-based pest management strategies.