Cytology ofWolbachia-induced parthenogenesis inLeptopilina clavipes(Hymenoptera: Figitidae)

Abstract

Parthenogenesis induced by cytoplasmatically inherited Wolbachia bacteria has been found in a number of arthropod species, mainly Hymenoptera. Previously, two different forms of diploidy restoration have been reported to underlie parthenogenesis induction in Hymenoptera by Wolbachia. Both are a form of gamete duplication, but each differs in their timing. We investigated the cytology of the early embryonic development of a Wolbachia-infected strain of the parasitoid wasp Leptopilina clavipes and compared it with that of an uninfected sexual strain. Both strains have a similar meiosis. In the infected parthenogenetic strain, diploidy is restored by anaphase restitution during the first somatic mitosis, similar to Trichogramma, but not to Muscidifurax. Our results confirm the occurrence of different cytological mechanisms of diploidy restoration associated with parthenogenesis-inducing Wolbachia in the order Hymenoptera.

Wolbachia Associations with Insects: Winning or Losing Against a Master Manipulator

“…This reproductive phenotype has only been observed in animals with haplo-diploid sex determination, specifically, those in which unfertilized (haploid) eggs produce males and diploid (fertilized) eggs produce females (arrhenotoky). In the parasitoid wasp Leptopilina clavipes, infected wasps have normal meiosis but diploidy is restored by an unresolved anaphase in the first mitotic division, which turns would-be males into parthenogenic females (Pannebakker et al, 2004). Indeed, except for CI that may be considered a secondary effect of the infection, it has been argued that all other phenotypic effects caused by Wolbachia might be interconnected, and possibly all correlated to feminization (Reviewed in Negri, 2012).…”

A survey of Wolbachia, Spiroplasma and other bacteria in parthenogenetic and non-parthenogenetic phasmid (Phasmatodea) species

“…These Alphaproteobacteria mainly parasitize the reproductive tissues (eggs and testes) of their hosts, whose reproduction can be altered through male killing, feminization, parthenogenesis and cytoplasmic incompatibility (Werren et al, 2008;Brucker & Bordenstein, 2012;Zug & Hammerstein, 2012). Wolbachia-induced parthenogenesis has been documented in mites, thrips and several members of the order Hymenoptera (Pannebakker et al, 2004;Werren et al, 2008;Kremer et al, 2009;Watanabe et al, 2013), although other bacterial genera, such as Rickettsia and Cardinium, also seem able to induce parthenogenesis in Hymenoptera (Rabeling & Kronauer, 2013).…”

Occasional males in parthenogenetic populations of Asobara japonica (Hymenoptera: Braconidae): low Wolbachia titer or incomplete coadaptation?

“…In uninfected haplodiploid organisms, fertilized eggs develop into diploid daughters and unfertilized eggs develop into haploid sons (arrhenotoky). In haplodiploids, PI Wolbachia cause diploidization of the haploid eggs by alteration of meiotic and/or mitotic processes (Huigens and Stouthamer, 2003;Pannebakker et al, 2004) resulting in the production of daughters from unfertilized eggs (thelytoky). In most cases of Wolbachia-induced parthenogenesis, the infection is fixed and the whole host population consists of females (Huigens and Stouthamer, 2003).…”