Rapid Insect Evolution by Symbiont Transfer

Jiggins, Francis M.; Hurst, Gregory D. D.

doi:10.1126/science.1205386

Cited by 60 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…The mutualists can supply nutrients, or protect against environmental stresses [8] or natural enemies [9]–[11]. Furthermore, symbionts can combine several strategies at once, with some ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ strains simultaneously exhibiting mutualistic and parasitic phenotypes [12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Symbionts Commonly Provide Broad Spectrum Resistance to Viruses in Insects: A Comparative Analysis of Wolbachia Strains

et al. 2014

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In the last decade, bacterial symbionts have been shown to play an important role in protecting hosts against pathogens. Wolbachia, a widespread symbiont in arthropods, can protect Drosophila and mosquito species against viral infections. We have investigated antiviral protection in 19 Wolbachia strains originating from 16 Drosophila species after transfer into the same genotype of Drosophila simulans. We found that approximately half of the strains protected against two RNA viruses. Given that 40% of terrestrial arthropod species are estimated to harbour Wolbachia, as many as a fifth of all arthropods species may benefit from Wolbachia-mediated protection. The level of protection against two distantly related RNA viruses – DCV and FHV – was strongly genetically correlated, which suggests that there is a single mechanism of protection with broad specificity. Furthermore, Wolbachia is making flies resistant to viruses, as increases in survival can be largely explained by reductions in viral titer. Variation in the level of antiviral protection provided by different Wolbachia strains is strongly genetically correlated to the density of the bacteria strains in host tissues. We found no support for two previously proposed mechanisms of Wolbachia-mediated protection — activation of the immune system and upregulation of the methyltransferase Dnmt2. The large variation in Wolbachia's antiviral properties highlights the need to carefully select Wolbachia strains introduced into mosquito populations to prevent the transmission of arboviruses.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Symbionts Commonly Provide Broad Spectrum Resistance to Viruses in Insects: A Comparative Analysis of Wolbachia Strains

et al. 2014

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“…Despite being important in host adaptation, recent molecular analyses of associations between secondary symbionts and their hosts provide evidence of successful and frequent interspecific transmission of symbionts throughout evolutionary time, alongside multiple loss events (Pool et al, 2006;Haselkorn et al, 2009;Raychoudhury et al, 2009;Mouton et al, 2012). The gain of function that can occur on symbiont acquisition and the frequency with which this occurs in nature, has led to them being considered akin to plasmids in representing heritable genomic components that can be acquired by a host species and alter its biology (Jiggins and Hurst, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can maternally inherited endosymbionts adapt to a novel host? Direct costs of Spiroplasma infection, but not vertical transmission efficiency, evolve rapidly after horizontal transfer into D. melanogaster

et al. 2015

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Maternally inherited symbionts are common in arthropods and many have important roles in host adaptation. The observation that specific symbiont lineages infect distantly related host species implies new interactions are commonly established by lateral transfer events. However, studies have shown that symbionts often perform poorly in novel hosts. We hypothesized selection on the symbiont may be sufficiently rapid that poor performance in a novel host environment is rapidly ameliorated, permitting symbiont maintenance. Here, we test this prediction for a Spiroplasma strain transinfected into the novel host Drosophila melanogaster. In the generations immediately following transinfection, the symbiont had low transmission efficiency to offspring and imposed severe fitness costs on its host. We observed that effects on host fitness evolved rapidly, being undetectable after 17 generations in the novel host, whereas vertical transmission efficiency was poorly responsive over this period. Our results suggest that long-term symbiosis may more readily be established in cases where symbionts perform poorly in just one aspect of symbiosis.

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“…If one considers the combined genetic variation (inclusive phenotype) that is generated by a host and its symbionts, then the reservoir of available genetic variation available for natural selection to work upon is amplified over what is available based on host genetic material alone. Indeed, some authors have likened facultative symbionts to ''accessory genomes'' that confer functional ''macromutations'' on their hosts [27].…”

Section: Pr Ospects and Overviews J A Whitementioning

confidence: 99%

Caught in the act: Rapid, symbiont‐driven evolution

White

2011

BioEssays

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Facultative bacterial endosymbionts can transfer horizontally among lineages of their arthropod hosts, providing the recipient with a suite of traits that can lead to rapid evolutionary response, as has been recently demonstrated. But how common is symbiont-driven evolution? Evidence suggests that successful symbiont transfers are most likely within a species or among closely related species, although more distant transfers have occurred over evolutionary history. Symbiont-driven evolution need not be a function of a recent horizontal transfer, however. Many endosymbionts infect only a small proportion of a host population, but could quickly increase in frequency under favorable selection regimes. Some host species appear to accumulate a diversity of facultative endosymbionts, and it is among these species that symbiont-driven evolution should be most prevalent. It remains to be determined how frequently symbionts enable rapid evolutionary response by their hosts, but substantial ecological effects are a likely consequence whenever it does occur.

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Rapid Insect Evolution by Symbiont Transfer

Abstract: A symbiotic bacteria dramatically increases reproduction and survival in a common insect pest.

Cited by 60 publications

References 13 publications

Symbionts Commonly Provide Broad Spectrum Resistance to Viruses in Insects: A Comparative Analysis of Wolbachia Strains

Symbionts Commonly Provide Broad Spectrum Resistance to Viruses in Insects: A Comparative Analysis of Wolbachia Strains

Can maternally inherited endosymbionts adapt to a novel host? Direct costs of Spiroplasma infection, but not vertical transmission efficiency, evolve rapidly after horizontal transfer into D. melanogaster

Caught in the act: Rapid, symbiont‐driven evolution

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