Horizontal transmission and recombination of Wolbachia in the butterfly tribe Aeromachini Tutt, 1906 (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae)

Abstract

Wolbachia is arguably one of the most ubiquitous heritable symbionts among insects and understanding its transmission dynamics is crucial for understanding why it is so common. While previous research has studied the transmission pathways of Wolbachia in several insect lineages including Lepidoptera, this study takes advantage of data collected from the lepidopteran tribe Aeromachini in an effort to assess patterns of transmission. Twenty-one of the 46 species of Aeromachini species were infected with Wolbachia. Overall, 25% (31/125) of Aeromachini specimens tested were Wolbachia positive. All Wolbachia strains were species specific except for the wJho strain which appeared to be shared by three host species with a sympatric distribution based on a co-phylogenetic comparison between Wolbachia and the Aeromachini species. Two tests of phylogenetic congruence did not find any evidence for cospeciation between Wolbachia strains and their butterfly hosts. The co-phylogenetic comparison, divergence time estimation and Wolbachia recombination analysis revealed that Wolbachia acquisition in Aeromachini appears to have mainly occurred mainly through horizontal transmission rather than codivergence.

Genetic Diversity and Wolbachia (Rickettsiales: Anaplasmataceae) Prevalence Within a Remnant Population of Regal Fritillary, Argynnis idalia (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae), in South-Central Pennsylvania

“…Wolbachia -positive individuals were previously identified in Wisconsin populations of A. idalia ( Hamm et al 2014 ), although the specific strain type was not determined. The high prevalence of strain type 41 infection in both A. aphrodite (100% of tested individuals) and A. cybele (~40% of tested individuals) at FIG-NGTC is concerning, however, given research suggesting horizontal transfer of Wolbachia endosymbionts is more successful among closely related hosts ( Russell et al 2009 , Zhao et al 2021 ), especially those that share food sources ( Ahmed et al 2016 ), as is commonly observed at FIG-NGTC (data not shown). Monitoring for Wolbachia infection status in the FIG-NGTC eastern regal fritillary population will therefore play a crucial role in on-going conservation strategies, including captive rearing and reintroduction efforts, as shown in similar studies ( Nice et al 2009 , Fenner et al 2017 , Daniels et al 2018 , Dincă et al 2018 ).…”

Playing Peekaboo with a Master Manipulator: Metagenetic Detection and Phylogenetic Analysis of Wolbachia Supergroups in Freshwater Invertebrates

“…In addition to the germ-line cells, it is known that a range of other somatic tissues can also be infected [77]. Moreover, horizontal transmission of Wolbachia between phylogenetically close and distant hosts, or directly from the environment, has been detected in many cases [78]. Thus, Wolbachia was considered to occur in non-arthropod hosts.…”

Using Wolbachia to control rice planthopper populations: progress and challenges

“…Wolbachia strains are subdivided into 17 supergroups from A to R, except for supergroup G, which is controversial ( Baldo et al, 2006 ; Baldo and Werren, 2007 ; Wang et al, 2016 ; Zhao et al, 2021 ). The majority of Wolbachia strains found in insects belong to supergroups A and B.…”