Wolbachia in European Populations of the Invasive Pest Drosophila suzukii: Regional Variation in Infection Frequencies.

ABSTRACT: The invasive pest Drosophila suzukii is characterized by a specific fresh-fruit targeting behavior and has quickly become a menace for the fruit economy of newly infested North American and European regions. D. suzukii carries a strain of the endosymbiotic bacterium Wolbachia, named wSuz, which has a low infection frequency and no reproductive manipulation capabilities in American populations of D. suzukii. To further understand the nature of wSuz biology and assess its utility as a tool for controlling this pest's populations, we investigated the prevalence of Wolbachia in 23 European D. suzukii populations, and compared our results with those available in American populations. Our data showed a highly variable infection frequency with a mean prevalence of 46%, which is significantly high

SUBMITTER: Cattel J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4725738 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature