Loss of reproductive parasitism following transfer of male-killing Wolbachia to Drosophila melanogaster and Drosophila simulans.

ABSTRACT: Wolbachia manipulate insect host biology through a variety of means that result in increased production of infected females, enhancing its own transmission. A Wolbachia strain (wInn) naturally infecting Drosophila innubila induces male killing, while native strains of D. melanogaster and D. simulans usually induce cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI). In this study, we transferred wInn to D. melanogaster and D. simulans by embryonic microinjection, expecting conservation of the male-killing phenotype to the novel hosts, which are more suitable for genetic analysis. In contrast to our expectations, there was no effect on offspring sex ratio. Furthermore, no CI was observed in the transinfected flies. Overall, transinfected D. melanogaster lines displayed lower transmission rate and lower densit

SUBMITTER: Veneti Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3476666 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature