Wolbachiainfection frequencies in insects: evidence of a global equilibrium?

Abstract

Wolbachia are a group of cytoplasmically inherited bacteria that cause reproduction alterations in arthropods, including parthenogenesis, reproductive incompatibility, feminization of genetic males and male killing. Previous general surveys of insects in Panama and Britain found Wolbachia to be common, occurring in 16^22% of species. Here, using similar polymerase chain reaction methods, we report that 19.3% of a sample of temperate North American insects are infected with Wolbachia, a frequency strikingly similar to frequencies found in two other studies in widely separated locales. The results may indicate a widespread equilibrium of Wolbachia infection frequencies in insects whose maintenance remains to be explained. Alternatively, Wolbachia may be increasing in global insect communities. Within each of the three geographic regions surveyed, Hymenoptera are more frequently infected with A group Wolbachia and Lepidoptera more frequently infected with B group Wolbachia.

Cloning and sequencing of wsp encoding gene fragments reveals a diversity of co-infecting Wolbachia strains in Acromyrmex leafcutter ants

“…In insects, Wolbachia is a widespread and common endosymbiont. PCR-based screenings have shown that 16% of a large sample of neotropical insects are Wolbachia infected (Werren et al, 1995a), and similar figures have been found in a sample of palearctic (West et al, 1998) and nearctic insects (Werren and Windsor, 2000). Using an ultra-sensitive assay, figures up to 76% have been obtained for nearctic arthropods (Jeyaprakash and Hoy, 2000).…”

“…Sequences generated in this study are indicated in bold. The bar represents a distance of 0.050 (about 25 MY if a wsp evolutionary rate of 0.2% per MY is assumed, Wenseleers et al, 2001). and Solignac, 1995;Wenseleers et al, 1998;Werren et al, 1995a, b;Werren and Windsor, 2000) or more rarely, triple infections (Kondo et al, 2002;Vavre et al, 1999). A stable triple Wolbachia infection has also been created artificially by microinjection of an additional strain in double infected Drosophila (Rousset et al, 1999).…”

Mapping the presence of Wolbachia pipientis on the phylogeny of filarial nematodes: evidence for symbiont loss during evolution

“…The first PCR was performed using the general eubacterial primer 27F (Lane, 1991) combined with 16SWolbR3; PCR conditions were as above. One microlitre of the first PCR was diluted 1/10 in water, and then used as a template in a second PCR, performed using internal primers W-EF and W-ER (Werren and Windsor, 2000), whose target sites are conserved in supergroups E-F. PCR conditions with these primers were as described in Werren and Windsor (2000). On the negative specimens, we also performed PCR with primers 16SWolbF and 16SWolbR3 under different conditions.…”

Incidence of Wolbachia in aquatic insects

“…Those surveys appear to only include the winged stages of some aquatic insects found in terrestrial areas, sampled haphazardly as part of broader surveys focused on terrestrial arthropods. Other studies have tested members of the order Odonata and aquatic Coleoptera (Sontowski, Bernhard, Bleidorn, Schlegel, & Gerth, 2015; Thipaksorn, Jamnongluk, & Kittayapong, 2003), but very few studies have investigated other major aquatic taxa such as Ephemeroptera, Trichoptera, and Plecoptera (but see Werren & Windsor, 2000; Prakash & Puttaraju, 2007; Yun et al., 2014). These types of surveys are important to understand the global infection frequency of Wolbachia so that future research on the potential impact of these bacteria on arthropod populations can be assessed.…”