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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2003

A bacterial symbiont in the Bacteroidetes induces cytoplasmic incompatibility in the parasitoid wasp Encarsia pergandiella.

Vertically transmitted symbionts of arthropods have been implicated in several reproductive manipulations of their hosts. These include cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI), parthenogenesis induction in haplodiploid species (PI), feminization and male killing. One symbiont lineage in the alpha-Proteobacteria, Wolbachia, is the only bacterium known to cause all of these effects, and has been thought to be unique in causing CI, in which the fecundity of uninfected females is reduced after mating with infected males. Here, we provide evidence that an undescribed symbiont in the Bacteroidetes group causes CI in a sexual population of the parasitic wasp Encarsia pergandiella. Wasps were crossed in all four possible combinations of infected and uninfected individuals. In the cross predicted to be incompatible, infected (I) males x uninfected (U) females, progeny production was severely reduced, with these females producing only 12.6% of the number of progeny in other crosses. The incompatibility observed in this haplodiploid species was the female mortality type; dissections showed that most progeny from the incompatible cross died as eggs. The 16S rDNA sequence of this symbiont is 99% identical to a parthenogenesis-inducing symbiont in other Encarsia, and 96% identical to a feminizing symbiont in haplodiploid Brevipalpus mites. Thus, this recently discovered symbiont lineage is capable of inducing three of the four principal manipulations of host reproduction known to be caused by Wolbachia.

Animals↗
PubMed2026

Wolbachia strain wLhui induces temperature-dependent incomplete cytoplasmic incompatibility in the invasive pest Liriomyza huidobrensis with biocontrol potential.

BACKGROUND: Wolbachia is a maternally inherited endosymbiont that manipulates host reproduction through cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI), offering promising opportunities for biocontrol of agricultural pests. The leaf-miner Liriomyza huidobrensis (Blanchard) is a globally invasive and highly polyphagous pest with a high incidence of Wolbachia infection; however, its reproductive effects remain poorly understood. Here, we investigated the reproductive manipulation induced by the Wolbachia strain wLhui using genomics analyses and crossing assays. RESULTS: wLhui localized primarily to the reproductive tissues of both female and male adults and maintained a 100% infection prevalence across three host generations under both low (15 and 20 °C) and moderate (25 °C) temperatures. Crossing assays showed that wLhui induced incomplete CI, reducing egg hatch by approximately 30% in incompatible crosses. Both CI strength (sh) and wLhui density varied with host rearing temperature. Genome sequencing revealed that wLhui (approximately 1.27 Mb) belongs to supergroup A and harbors two pairs of CI factor genes (cifA and cifB). These Cif proteins are classified as Type I and exhibit substantial phylogenetic and structural divergence. Expression of CifB-pair1 caused growth defects in yeast, suggesting that CifB-pair1 exhibits toxicity. However, no direct interaction between CifA and CifB was detected by yeast two-hybrid assays. CONCLUSIONS: These findings elucidate the role and molecular basis of wLhui-induced reproductive manipulation and highlight its potential for developing Wolbachia-based biocontrol strategies against leaf-miner pests. © 2026 Society of Chemical Industry.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Wolbachia variability and host effects on crossing type in Culex mosquitoes.

Wolbachia is a common maternally inherited bacterial symbiont able to induce crossing sterilities known as cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) in insects. Wolbachia-modified sperm are unable to complete fertilization of uninfected ova, but a rescue function allows infected eggs to develop normally. By providing a reproductive advantage to infected females, Wolbachia can rapidly invade uninfected populations, and this could provide a mechanism for driving transgenes through pest populations. CI can also occur between Wolbachia-infected populations and is usually associated with the presence of different Wolbachia strains. In the Culex pipiens mosquito group (including the filariasis vector C. quinquefasciatus) a very unusual degree of complexity of Wolbachia-induced crossing-types has been reported, with partial or complete CI that can be unidirectional or bidirectional, yet no Wolbachia strain variation was found. Here we show variation between incompatible Culex strains in two Wolbachia ankyrin repeat-encoding genes associated with a prophage region, one of which is sex-specifically expressed in some strains, and also a direct effect of the host nuclear genome on CI rescue.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1999

Phylogenetic status of a fecundity-enhancing Wolbachia that does not induce thelytoky in Trichogramma.

Wolbachia are widespread bacteria which infect a number of species of insects and other arthropods. They manipulate the reproduction of their hosts at their own advantage. In Trichogramma species all Wolbachia known so far induce thelytoky and form a monophyletic group in the B subdivision of Wolbachia. Here we show that some strains of the arrhenotokous species Trichogramma bourarachae harbour Wolbachia symbionts that locate in the A subdivision, and which do not induce thelytoky. Although the symbiont of T. bourarachae is closely related to Wolbachia that induce cytoplasmic incompatibility in other insects, no cytoplasmic incompatibilities were found in crosses involving infected and uninfected strains. In T. bourarachae the presence of this Wolbachia is associated with a higher fecundity of strains. Our results strongly suggest that Wolbachia are involved in this increased fecundity. Theoretical models on the evolution of host-Wolbachia interaction predict that a reduced effect on reproduction can be selected for if cost of infection is reduced. The effect in T. bourarachae should illustrate this prediction.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

Strain-specific regulation of intracellular Wolbachia density in multiply infected insects.

Vertically transmitted symbionts suffer a severe reduction in numbers when they pass through host generations, resulting in genetic homogeneity or even clonality of their populations. Wolbachia endosymbionts that induce cytoplasmic incompatibility in their hosts depart from this rule, because cytoplasmic incompatibility actively maintains multiple infection within hosts. Hosts and symbionts are thus probably under peculiar selective pressures that must shape the way intracellular bacterial populations are regulated. We studied the density and location of Wolbachia within adult Leptopilina heterotoma, a haplodiploid wasp that is parasitic on Drosophila and that is naturally infected with three Wolbachia strains, but for which we also obtained one simply infected and two doubly infected lines. Comparison of these four lines by quantitative polymerase chain reaction using a real-time detection system showed that total Wolbachia density varies according to the infection status of individuals, while the specific density of each Wolbachia strain remains constant regardless of the presence of other strains. This suggests that Wolbachia strains do not compete with one another within the same host individual, and that a strain-specific regulatory mechanism is operating. We discuss the regulatory mechanisms that are involved, and how this process might have evolved as a response to selective pressures acting on both partners.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Can maternally transmitted endosymbionts facilitate the evolution of haplodiploidy?

Whilst many invertebrate taxa are haplodiploid, the factors underlying the evolution of haplodiploidy remain unresolved. We investigate theoretically whether haplodiploidy might evolve as an outcome of the co-evolution between maternally inherited endosymbionts and their hosts. First, we substantially extend a recently developed model that involves maternally inherited endosymbionts that kill male offspring by eliminating the paternal genome. We also put forward a new hypothesis and develop a model that involves bacteria that induce cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI). Based on these models, we explore the co-evolutionary events that might occur between hosts and symbionts. We find that both with male-killers and CI-inducing endosymbionts, the hosts are likely to develop increased viability of haploid males, which can be considered a preadaptation to haplodiploidy. In addition, populations with haploidizing male-killers can in some cases evolve directly towards a genetic system of paternal genome elimination, a special form of haplodiploidy. These results are combined with consideration of mechanism and ecology to appraise the likelihood of male-killers and CI inducing bacteria being involved in the evolution of haplodiploidy.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Wolbachia replication and host cell division in Aedes albopictus.

Wolbachia pipientis is an obligate intracellular endosymbiont of a range of arthropod species. The microbe is best known for its manipulations of host reproduction that include inducing cytoplasmic incompatibility, parthenogenesis, feminization, and male-killing. Like other vertically transmitted intracellular symbionts, Wolbachia's replication rate must not outpace that of its host cells if it is to remain benign. The mosquito Aedes albopictus is naturally infected both singly and doubly with different strains of Wolbachia pipientis. During diapause in mosquito eggs, no host cell division is believed to occur. Further development is triggered only by subsequent exposure of the egg to water. This study uses diapause in Wolbachia-infected Aedes albopictus eggs to determine whether symbiont replication slows or stops when host cell division ceases or whether it continues at a low but constant rate. We have shown that Wolbachia densities in eggs are greatest during embryonation and then decline throughout diapause, suggesting that Wolbachia replication is dependent on host cell replication.

Aedes↗
PubMed2003

No variation for Wolbachia-induced hybrid breakdown in two populations of a spider mite.

Wolbachia are cytoplasmically transmitted bacteria that infect several species of mites. In the two-spotted spider mite Tetranychus urticae Koch this symbiont can induce reproductive incompatibility. Wolbachia-induced reproductive incompatibility is observed in crosses between Wolbachia-infected (W) males and uninfected (U) females. This incompatibility is expressed in F1 broods as male-biased sex ratios, an effect called cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI). However, in the two-spotted spider mite, Wolbachia-induced reproductive incompatibility may extend to the F2: broods of virgin F1 females from U x W crosses sometimes suffer increased mortality rates. This F2 effect is called hybrid breakdown (HB). Several isofemale lines derived from mites collected from rose and cucumber plants had been previously tested for CI. Here we report on the results obtained for HB.

Animals↗
PubMed2025

The ecology, evolution, and physiology of Cardinium: a widespread heritable endosymbiont of invertebrates.

Candidatus Cardinium hertigii (Cardinium) are maternally transmitted obligate intracellular bacteria found in a wide range of invertebrate hosts, including arthropods and nematodes. Infection with Cardinium has substantial consequences for host biology, with many strains manipulating host reproduction to favor symbiont transmission by (i) feminizing male hosts, (ii) altering host sex allocation, (iii) inducing parthenogenesis, or (iv) causing cytoplasmic incompatibility. Other Cardinium strains can confer benefits to their host or alter host behavior. Cardinium-modified host phenotypes can result in selective sweeps of cytological elements through host populations and potentially reinforce host speciation. Cardinium has potential for applications in controlling arthropod pest species and arthropod-vectored disease transmission, although much remains to be explored regarding Cardinium physiology and host interactions. In this review, we provide an overview of Cardinium evolution and host distribution. We describe the various host phenotypes associated with Cardinium and how biological and environmental factors influence these symbioses. We also provide an overview of Cardinium metabolism, physiology, and potential mechanisms for interactions with hosts based on recent studies using genomics and transcriptomics. Finally, we discuss new methodologies and directions for Cardinium research, including improving our understanding of Cardinium physiology, response to environmental stress, and potential for controlling arthropod pest populations.

Symbiosis↗
PubMed2004

Wolbachia transfer from Rhagoletis cerasi to Drosophila simulans: investigating the outcomes of host-symbiont coevolution.

Wolbachia is an endosymbiont of diverse arthropod lineages that can induce various alterations of host reproduction for its own benefice. Cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) is the most common phenomenon, which results in embryonic lethality when males that bear Wolbachia are mated with females that do not. In the cherry fruit fly, Rhagoletis cerasi, Wolbachia seems to be responsible for previously reported patterns of incompatibility between populations. Here we report on the artificial transfer of two Wolbachia variants (wCer1 and wCer2) from R. cerasi into Drosophila simulans, which was performed with two major goals in mind: first, to isolate wCer1 from wCer2 in order to individually test their respective abilities to induce CI in the new host; and, second, to test the theoretical prediction that recent Wolbachia-host associations should be characterized by high levels of CI, fitness costs to the new host, and inefficient transmission from mothers to offspring. wCer1 was unable to develop in the new host, resulting in its rapid loss after successful injection, while wCer2 was established in the new host. Transmission rates of wCer2 were low, and the infection showed negative fitness effects, consistent with our prediction, but CI levels were unexpectedly lower in the new host. Based on these parameter estimates, neither wCer1 nor wCer2 could be naturally maintained in D. simulans. The experiment thus suggests that natural Wolbachia transfer between species might be restricted by many factors, should the ecological barriers be bypassed.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Wolbachia pipientis: intracellular infection and pathogenesis in Drosophila.

Wolbachia pipientis is a vertically transmitted, obligate intracellular symbiont of arthropods. The bacterium is best known for its ability to manipulate host reproductive biology where it can induce cytoplasmic incompatibility, parthenogenesis, feminization and male-killing. In addition to the various reproductive phenotypes it generates through interaction with host reproductive tissue it is also known to infect somatic tissues. However, relatively little is known about the consequences of infection of these tissues with the exception that in some hosts Wolbachia acts as a classical mutualist and in others a pathogen, dramatically shortening adult insect lifespan. Manipulation experiments have demonstrated that the severity of Wolbachia-induced effects on the host is determined by a combination of host genotype, Wolbachia strain, host tissue localization, and interaction with the environment. The recent completion of the whole genome sequence of Wolbachia pipientis wMel strain indicates that it is likely to use a type IV secretion system to establish and maintain infection in its host. Moreover, an unusual abundance of genes encoding proteins with eukaryotic-like ankyrin repeat domains suggest a function in the various described phenotypic effects in hosts.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

Wolbachia-induced mortality as a mechanism to modulate pathogen transmission by vector arthropods.

Insecticide resistance and absence of clinical cures or vaccines for many vector-borne diseases has stimulated interest in using genetically modified arthropod vectors for disease control. Current transgenic strategies focus on vector susceptibility to pathogen infection, which is an inefficient target for pathogen transmission interference. Manipulation of vector survival is theoretically more effective, resulting in larger reductions in the expected number of human infections. A hypothetical method to manipulate vector survival is to drive mortality-inducing Wolbachia into populations. For varying patterns and degrees of induced mortality, we outline the conditions under which virulent Wolbachia introductions into vector populations are expected to succeed and quantify the resultant reduction in pathogen transmission. The most critical component to the success of this strategy is the pattern of induced mortality. For operationally feasible introductions, induced mortality must be delayed until after vector reproduction begins. If this condition is not met, introduction thresholds become exceedingly high, ranging from approximately 40% to 90% of the total adult population. Delayed induced mortality patterns can reduce introduction thresholds to approximately 15-45% of the total adult population. Reduction in cytoplasmic incompatibility with male age has negligible effects on introduction success regardless of the induced mortality pattern. Under proper circumstances, symbiont-induced manipulation of vector survival can theoretically result in up to 100% reduction in pathogen transmission, depending on Wolbachia parameters, magnitude and pattern of induced mortality, and duration of pathogen incubation in the vector. Our results indicate that a broadening of the current paradigm for genetic manipulation of vectors to parameters other than arthropod vector competence is justified and will reveal new research possibilities for vector-borne disease control.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Fitness effects of Wolbachia and Spiroplasma in Drosophila melanogaster.

Maternally inherited endosymbionts that manipulate the reproduction of their insect host are very common. Aside from the reproductive manipulation they produce, the fitness of these symbionts depends in part on the direct impact they have on the female host. Although this parameter has commonly been investigated for single infections, it has much more rarely been established in dual infections. We here establish the direct effect of infection with two different symbionts exhibiting different reproductive manipulation phenotypes, both alone and in combination, in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. This species carries a cytoplasmic incompatibility inducing Wolbachia and a male-killing Spiroplasma, occurring as single or double (co-) infections in natural populations. We assessed direct fitness effects of these bacteria on their host, by comparing larval competitiveness and adult fecundity of uninfected, Wolbachia, Spiroplasma and Wolbachia-Spiroplasma co-infected females. We found no effect of infection status on the fitness of females for both estimates, that is, no evidence of any benefits or costs to either single or co-infection. This leads to the conclusion that both bacteria probably have other sources of benefits to persist in D. melanogaster populations, either by means of their reproductive manipulations (fitness compensation from male death in Spiroplasma infection and cytoplasmic incompatibility in Wolbachia infection) or by positive fitness interactions on other fitness components.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

Recent changes in phenotype and patterns of host specialization in Wolbachia bacteria.

Wolbachia are a genus of bacterial symbionts that are known to manipulate the reproduction of their arthropod hosts, both by distorting the host sex ratio and by inducing cytoplasmic incompatibility. Previous work has suggested that some Wolbachia clades specialize in particular host taxa, but others are diverse. Furthermore, the frequency with which related strains change in phenotype is unknown. We have examined these issues for Wolbachia bacteria from Acraea butterflies, where different interactions are known in different host species. We found that bacteria from Acraea butterflies mostly cluster together in several different clades on the bacterial phylogeny, implying specialization of particular strains on these host taxa. We also observed that bacterial strains with different phenotypic effects on their hosts commonly shared identical gene sequences at two different loci. This suggests both that the phenotypes of the strains have changed recently between sex ratio distortion and cytoplasmic incompatibility, and that host specialization is not related to the bacterial phenotype, as suggested from previous data. We also analysed published data from other arthropod taxa, and found that the Wolbachia infections of the majority of arthropod genera tend to cluster together on the bacterial phylogeny. Therefore, we conclude that Wolbachia is most likely to move horizontally between closely related hosts, perhaps because of a combination of shared vectors for transmission and physiological specialization of the bacteria on those hosts.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Cloning and characterization of a gene encoding the major surface protein of the bacterial endosymbiont Wolbachia pipientis.

The maternally inherited intracellular symbiont Wolbachia pipientis is well known for inducing a variety of reproductive abnormalities in the diverse arthropod hosts it infects. It has been implicated in causing cytoplasmic incompatibility, parthenogenesis, and the feminization of genetic males in different hosts. The molecular mechanisms by which this fastidious intracellular bacterium causes these reproductive and developmental abnormalities have not yet been determined. In this paper, we report on (i) the purification of one of the most abundantly expressed Wolbachia proteins from infected Drosophila eggs and (ii) the subsequent cloning and characterization of the gene (wsp) that encodes it. The functionality of the wsp promoter region was also successfully tested in Escherichia coli. Comparison of sequences of this gene from different strains of Wolbachia revealed a high level of variability. This sequence variation correlated with the ability of certain Wolbachia strains to induce or rescue the cytoplasmic incompatibility phenotype in infected insects. As such, this gene will be a very useful tool for Wolbachia strain typing and phylogenetic analysis, as well as understanding the molecular basis of the interaction of Wolbachia with its host.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2002

Cloning and characterization of a gene encoding glutathione-regulated potassium-efflux system protein KefKL from the endosymbiont Wolbachia.

The maternally inherited intracellular symbiont Wolbachia is well known for inducing a variety of reproductive and developmental abnormalities in the diverse arthropod hosts it infects. It has been implicated in causing cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI), parthenogenesis, feminization of genetic males and male killing in different hosts. However, the molecular mechanisms by which this fastidious bacterium causes these abnormalities have not yet been determined. In our study, representational difference analysis (RDA) was used to analyze the genomic difference between different Wolbachia strains. A gene encoding glutathione-regulated potassium-efflux system protein KefKL from Wolbachia in Drosophila simulans Riverside (w Ri) was isolated. The homologous genes from Wolbachia in Drosophila melanogaster yw67c23 (wMel) and Wolbachia in Drosophila melanogaster CantonS (wMelCS) were also cloned and sequenced. Sequence analysis showed that these deduced amino acid sequences contained two important motifs: Na+/H+ antiportor and NAD binding domain, which shared conserved sequences among different strains. Considering the crucial function of KefKL for ionic homeostasis, this gene might play an important role in Wolbachia physiology. Further study indicated that there was no homologue detected from Wolbachia in Drosophila simulans DSW/Mau (wMa) and Wolbachia in Drosophila simulans Noumea (wNo). Whether Wolbachia contained KefKL (or the homologous gene) was consistent with the phylogenetic studies using wsp sequences, which showed that wMa and wNo were grouped into one branch, while w Ri, wMel and wMelCS were more closely related.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2004

Multiple infection with Wolbachia inducing different reproductive manipulations in the butterfly Eurema hecabe.

Wolbachia are rickettsial intracellular symbionts of arthropods and nematodes. In arthropods, they act as selfish genetic elements and manipulate host reproduction, including sex-ratio distortion and cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI). Previous studies showed that infection of feminizing Wolbachia and CI Wolbachia sympatrically occurred in the butterfly Eurema hecabe. We demonstrate that feminization-infecting individuals can rescue sperm modified by CI-infecting males. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that feminized individuals are infected with two distinct Wolbachia strains: one is shared with CI-inducing matrilines, and the other is only found in feminized matrilines. Therefore, the simultaneous double manipulation, CI rescue and feminization, is caused by different Wolbachia strains in feminized individuals, not by a single Wolbachia with two functions. This is the first finding of double infection of Wolbachia with different reproductive manipulations.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Infection dynamics of different Wolbachia-types within one host population.

Wolbachia are widespread intracellular symbionts of arthropods which are known to cause several reproductive manipulations in their hosts, the commonest of which being cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI), male killing (MK), and the induction of parthenogenesis (PI). Strains of endosymbionts inducing one of these effects can be referred to as 'Wolbachia-types'. Here, we try to ascertain whether two of these Wolbachia-types can stably coexist within one population. We investigate this question by means of two discrete-time mathematical models which describe the dynamics of an infection of a host population with either CI- and MK- or CI- and PI-Wolbachia. We derive analytical solutions for two special cases of each model showing that stable coexistence of the respective Wolbachia-types is not possible if no doubly infected individuals occur within the population and that stable coexistence is possible when doubly infected hosts do exist and transmission of the endosymbionts is perfect. Moreover, we show that a population infected with either CI- or MK-Wolbachia at equilibrium can resist invasion of the respective other Wolbachia-type as a single infection. In contrast, a population infected with CI-Wolbachia can be invaded by PI-Wolbachia as a single infection with the CI-Wolbachia going extinct. Computer simulations confirmed these findings for the general models. We discuss our results with respect to the prevalence of the Wolbachia-types considered here and the emergence of PI- from CI-Wolbachia.

Animals↗