Diversity and recombination in Wolbachia and Cardinium from Bryobia spider mites

Abstract

BackgroundWolbachia and Cardinium are endosymbiotic bacteria infecting many arthropods and manipulating host reproduction. Although these bacteria are maternally transmitted, incongruencies between phylogenies of host and parasite suggest an additional role for occasional horizontal transmission. Consistent with this view is the strong evidence for recombination in Wolbachia, although it is less clear to what extent recombination drives diversification within single host species and genera. Furthermore, little is known concerning the population structures of other insect endosymbionts which co-infect with Wolbachia, such as Cardinium. Here, we explore Wolbachia and Cardinium strain diversity within nine spider mite species (Tetranychidae) from 38 populations, and quantify the contribution of recombination compared to point mutation in generating Wolbachia diversity.ResultsWe found a high level of genetic diversity for Wolbachia, with 36 unique strains detected (64 investigated mite individuals). Sequence data from four Wolbachia genes suggest that new alleles are 7.5 to 11 times more likely to be generated by recombination than point mutation. Consistent with previous reports on more diverse host samples, our data did not reveal evidence for co-evolution of Wolbachia with its host. Cardinium was less frequently found in the mites, but also showed a high level of diversity, with eight unique strains detected in 15 individuals on the basis of only two genes. A lack of congruence among host and Cardinium phylogenies was observed.ConclusionsWe found a high rate of recombination for Wolbachia strains obtained from host species of the spider mite family Tetranychidae, comparable to rates found for horizontally transmitted bacteria. This suggests frequent horizontal transmission of Wolbachia and/or frequent horizontal transfer of single genes. Our findings strengthens earlier reports of recombination for Wolbachia, and shows that high recombination rates are also present on strains from a restrictive host range. Cardinium was found co-infecting several spider mite species, and phylogenetic comparisons suggest also horizontal transmission of Cardinium among hosts.

Molecular identification of parasitoid, Encarsia formosa gahan in Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) and determination of its secondary endosymbionts

“…Although, recently Ros et al (2012) showed that recombination of Wolbachia with Cardinium in Bryovia spider mite that also similar with present findings about endosymbiont harbored in E. formosa.…”

<p align="center"><strong>A review of prevalence and phylogeny of the bacterial symbiont <em>Cardinium</em> in mites (subclass: Acari)</strong></p>

“…Subsequently, many mite species were reported to harbor this symbiont (Duron et al 2008;Ros et al 2012;Kopecky et al 2013;Famah Sourassou et al 2014;Weinert et al 2015;Chaisiri et al 2015). There are several studies reporting Cardinium-induced reproductive alterations in mites (Weeks & Stouthamer 2004;Groot & Breeuwer 2006;Gotoh et al 2007;Ros & Breeuwer 2009;Liu et al 2010;Xie et al 2010;Wu & Hoy 2012;Zhu et al 2012b;Zhao et al 2013a;Zhao et al 2013b;Famah Sourassou et al 2014), and Cardinium seem to be essential for oviposition in the Ghana population of Neoseiulus paepalivorus (Famah Sourassou et al 2014).…”

“…Thus, the detection of its presence in mites is done mainly using PCR-based techniques, sometimes aided by bioassays (crossing breeding studies). Available molecular markers for its detection in mites include, but not limited to, the 16S ribosomal RNA (16S rRNA) and the Gyrase B (gyrB) (Hoy & Jeyaprakash 2005;Chigira & Miura 2005;Liu et al 2006;Novelli et al 2007;Enigl & Schausberger 2007;Novelli et al 2008;Chen et al 2009;Moro et al 2009b;Jeong et al 2009;Ros et al 2012;Zhu et al 2012b;Zhao et al 2013a;Zhao et al 2013b;Hubert et al 2012;Famah Sourasson et al 2014). The other techniques used to determine the presence and distribution of Cardinium in mites are transmission electron microscopy (Kitajima et al 2007) and fluorescence in situ hybridization (Zhu et al 2012a).…”

Experimental Manipulation Shows a Greater Influence of Population than Dietary Perturbation on the Microbiome of Tyrophagus putrescentiae

“…It was found that Wolbachia and Cardinium maintain prevalence within many arthropod taxa by implementing a variety of reproductive manipulations (6). Although Wolbachia and Cardinium are transmitted maternally, both taxa or their genes have been found to be transmitted horizontally among spider mites (7). More recently, horizontal Wolbachia transfer between Drosophila melanogaster stocks facilitated by Tyrophagus putrescentiae has been reported; moreover, this transmission occurred through the ingestion of Wolbachia in infested corpses (8).…”