Endosymbionts in Virus‐Transmitting Thrips and Their Disease Management Potential in Vegetable Ecosystems

Abstract

Thrips cause severe yield losses in vegetable crops both as direct feeding pests and as vectors of plant viruses. Their ubiquitous distribution, broad host range, rapid reproduction, and ability to transmit orthotospoviruses in a persistent‐propagative manner make them highly efficient vectors. Increasing insecticide resistance and environmental concerns limit the sustainability of chemical control, necessitating alternative strategies. Microbial endosymbionts are key regulators of thrips biology and vector competence, influencing host nutrition, immune signaling, reproduction, stress tolerance, and virus transmission. Symbionts such as Wolbachia , Pantoea , and Arsenophonus modulate virus acquisition, replication, and dissemination by altering gut microenvironment, tissue barriers, antiviral immunity, and vector behavior, thereby shaping transmission efficiency and virus epidemics. Exploiting symbiont‐mediated processes offers an eco‐compatible approach for managing both thrips and the viruses they transmit. Strategies including symbiont disruption, cytoplasmic incompatibility‐based reproductive manipulation, symbiont‐mediated RNA interference, paratransgenesis, and microbiome engineering can reduce vector fitness, alter population dynamics, and suppress virus transmission. This review critically evaluates endosymbiont diversity, functional roles, and emerging symbiont‐based strategies for sustainable, microbiome‐informed management of thrips and thrips‐transmitted viruses in vegetables.