Epidemiology in evolutionary time: the case of <i><scp>W</scp>olbachia</i> horizontal transmission between arthropod host species

Zug, Roman; Koehncke, Arnulf; Hammerstein, Peter

doi:10.1111/j.1420-9101.2012.02601.x

Cited by 54 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…Second, a confounding factor might have masked a true underlying correlation. For example, competitive exclusion among symbionts might lead to high incidence of one bacterium being predictably associated with low incidence of another (though see [22,42]), or species richness might correlate with clade age, which might also affect incidence [43]. Alternatively, symbionts might induce speciation without transferring to the new daughter species, or might often drive their hosts extinct [44,45].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The incidence of bacterial endosymbionts in terrestrial arthropods

et al. 2015

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Intracellular endosymbiotic bacteria are found in many terrestrial arthropods and have a profound influence on host biology. A basic question about these symbionts is why they infect the hosts that they do, but estimating symbiont incidence (the proportion of potential host species that are actually infected) is complicated by dynamic or low prevalence infections. We develop a maximum-likelihood approach to estimating incidence, and testing hypotheses about its variation. We apply our method to a database of screens for bacterial symbionts, containing more than 3600 distinct arthropod species and more than 150 000 individual arthropods. After accounting for sampling bias, we estimate that 52% (CIs: 48-57) of arthropod species are infected with Wolbachia, 24% (CIs: 20-42) with Rickettsia and 13% (CIs: 13-55) with Cardinium. We then show that these differences stem from the significantly reduced incidence of Rickettsia and Cardinium in most hexapod orders, which might be explained by evolutionary differences in the arthropod immune response. Finally, we test the prediction that symbiont incidence should be higher in speciose host clades. But while some groups do show a trend for more infection in species-rich families, the correlations are generally weak and inconsistent. These results argue against a major role for parasitic symbionts in driving arthropod diversification.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The incidence of bacterial endosymbionts in terrestrial arthropods

et al. 2015

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“…Further studies are needed to determine the complex interaction between these two bacterial endosymbionts and malaria in diverse Anopheles malaria vector species. Horizontal transfer of Wolbachia strains between species (even over large phylogenetic differences) has shaped the evolutionary history of this endosymbiont in insects, and there is evidence for loss of infection in host lineages over evolutionary time 79 . Our results showing a new strain present in An.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Novel Wolbachia strains in Anopheles malaria vectors from Sub-Saharan Africa

Jeffries¹,

Lawrence²,

Golovko³

et al. 2018

Wellcome Open Res

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Background: Wolbachia, a common insect endosymbiotic bacterium that can influence pathogen transmission and manipulate host reproduction, has historically been considered absent from the Anopheles (An.) genera, but has recently been found in An. gambiae s.l. populations. As there are numerous Anopheles species that have the capacity to transmit malaria, we analysed a range of species to determine Wolbachia prevalence rates, characterise novel Wolbachia strains and determine any correlation between the presence of Plasmodium, Wolbachia and the competing endosymbiotic bacterium Asaia. Methods: Anopheles adult mosquitoes were collected from five malaria-endemic countries: Guinea, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ghana, Uganda and Madagascar, between 2013 and 2017. Molecular analysis of samples was undertaken using quantitative PCR, Sanger sequencing, Wolbachia multilocus sequence typing (MLST) and high-throughput amplicon sequencing of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene. Results: Novel Wolbachia strains were discovered in five species: An. coluzzii, An. gambiae s.s., An. arabiensis, An. moucheti and An. species ‘A’, increasing the number of Anopheles species known to be naturally infected. Variable prevalence rates in different locations were observed and novel strains were phylogenetically diverse, clustering with Wolbachia supergroup B strains. We also provide evidence for resident strain variants within An. species ‘A’. Wolbachia is the dominant member of the microbiome in An. moucheti and An. species ‘A’, but present at lower densities in An. coluzzii. Interestingly, no evidence of Wolbachia/Asaia co-infections was seen and Asaia infection densities were also shown to be variable and location dependent. Conclusions: The important discovery of novel Wolbachia strains in Anopheles provides greater insight into the prevalence of resident Wolbachia strains in diverse malaria vectors. Novel Wolbachia strains (particularly high-density strains) are ideal candidate strains for transinfection to create stable infections in other Anopheles mosquito species, which could be used for population replacement or suppression control strategies.

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“…The centrality of titre in expression of phenotype and vertical transmission further suggests that thermal sensitivity of host-symbiont interactions may affect the success/failure of heritable symbionts in novel host species. Facultative symbiont incidence in host communities is partly a function of their movement into, and subsequent propagation through, new host species (Zug et al, 2012;Longdon et al, 2014). Furthermore, Wolbachia transinfected into novel host species is in applied usage as a means to interrupt vector competence of focal species.…”

Section: A Generalised View Of Thermal Impacts On Facultative Heritabmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heritable symbionts in a world of varying temperature

et al. 2016

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Heritable microbes represent an important component of the biology, ecology and evolution of many plants, animals and fungi, acting as both parasites and partners. In this review, we examine how heritable symbiont-host interactions may alter host thermal tolerance, and how the dynamics of these interactions may more generally be altered by thermal environment. Obligate symbionts, those required by their host, are considered to represent a thermally sensitive weak point for their host, associated with accumulation of deleterious mutations. As such, these symbionts may represent an important determinant of host thermal envelope and spatial distribution. We then examine the varied relationship between thermal environment and the frequency of facultative symbionts that provide ecologically contingent benefits or act as parasites. We note that some facultative symbionts directly alter host thermotolerance. We outline how thermal environment will alter the benefits/costs of infection more widely, and additionally modulate vertical transmission efficiency. Multiple patterns are observed, with symbionts being cold sensitive in some species and heat sensitive in others, with varying and non-coincident thresholds at which phenotype and transmission are ablated. Nevertheless, it is clear that studies aiming to predict ecological and evolutionary dynamics of symbiont-host interactions need to examine the interaction across a range of thermal environments. Finally, we discuss the importance of thermal sensitivity in predicting the success/failure of symbionts to spread into novel species following natural/engineered introduction.

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Epidemiology in evolutionary time: the case of Wolbachia horizontal transmission between arthropod host species

Cited by 54 publications

References 52 publications

The incidence of bacterial endosymbionts in terrestrial arthropods

The incidence of bacterial endosymbionts in terrestrial arthropods

Novel Wolbachia strains in Anopheles malaria vectors from Sub-Saharan Africa

Heritable symbionts in a world of varying temperature

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