Molecular detection, penetrance, and transmission of an inherited virus responsible for behavioral manipulation of an insect parasitoid.

ABSTRACT: For insects, the prevalence of numerous vertically transmitted viruses can be high in their host populations. These viruses often have few, if any, pathological effects on their hosts, and consequently, many of them can remain unnoticed for long periods, despite their potential role in the evolution of the host phenotype. Some females of Leptopilina boulardi, a solitary parasitoid of Drosophila larvae, are infected by an inherited virus (LbFV) that manipulates the behavior of the wasp by increasing its tendency to lay eggs in a host that is already parasitized (superparasitism). This behavioral alteration allows horizontal transmission of the virus within superparasitized Drosophila larvae. Using suppressive subtractive hybridization with infected and uninfected lines, we identified one pu

SUBMITTER: Patot S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2632122 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature