Valerio, F and Martel, C and Stefanescu, C and van Nouhuys, S and Kankare, M and Duplouy, A (2024) Wolbachia strain diversity in a complex group of sympatric cryptic parasitoid wasp species. In: BMC Microbiology, 24 (1).
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Abstract
Background: Maternally-inherited symbionts can induce pre-mating and/or post-mating reproductive isolation between sympatric host lineages, and speciation, by modifying host reproductive phenotypes. The large parasitoid wasp genus Cotesia (Braconidae) includes a diversity of cryptic species, each specialized in parasitizing one to few related Lepidoptera host species. Here, we characterized the infection status of an assemblage of 21 Cotesia species from 15 countries by several microbial symbionts, as a first step toward investigating whether symbionts may provide a barrier to gene flow between these parasitoid host lineages. Results: The symbiotic microbes Arsenophonus, Cardinium, Microsporidium and Spiroplasma were not detected in the Cotesia wasps. However, the endosymbiotic bacterium Wolbachia was present in at least eight Cotesia species, and hence we concentrated on it upon screening additional DNA extracts and SRAs from NCBI. Some of the closely related Cotesia species carry similar Wolbachia strains, but most Wolbachia strains showed patterns of horizontal transfer between phylogenetically distant host lineages. Conclusions: The lack of co-phylogenetic signal between Wolbachia and Cotesia suggests that the symbiont and hosts have not coevolved to an extent that would drive species divergence between the Cotesia host lineages. However, as the most common facultative symbiont of Cotesia species, Wolbachia may still function as a key-player in the biology of the parasitoid wasps. Its precise role in the evolution of this complex clade of cryptic species remains to be experimentally investigated. © The Author(s) 2024.
| Item Type: | Journal Article |
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| Publication: | BMC Microbiology |
| Publisher: | BioMed Central Ltd |
| Additional Information: | The copyright for this article belongs to the author. |
| Keywords: | RNA 16S; RNA 18S, Arsenophonus; Article; bacterial infection; butterfly; Cardinium; Cotesia; cytoplasmic incompatibility; endosymbiont; endosymbiotic bacterium; gene flow; horizontal gene transfer; Hymenoptera; infection rate; microbiological parameters; Microsporidia; nonhuman; parasitoid wasp; phylogeny; polymerase chain reaction; Sanger sequencing; sequence alignment; species diversity; Spiroplasma; symbiosis; sympatric cryptic parasitoid wasp species; Wolbachia strain diversity; animal; classification; genetic variation; genetics; isolation and purification; Lepidoptera; microbiology; parasitology; phylogeny; symbiosis; sympatry; wasp; Wolbachia, Animals; Gene Transfer, Horizontal; Genetic Variation; Lepidoptera; Phylogeny; Symbiosis; Sympatry; Wasps; Wolbachia |
| Department/Centre: | Division of Biological Sciences > Centre for Ecological Sciences |
| Date Deposited: | 23 Sep 2024 08:55 |
| Last Modified: | 23 Sep 2024 08:55 |
| URI: | http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/86242 |
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