Cytonuclear Epistasis Controls the Density of Symbiont Wolbachia pipientis in Nongonadal Tissues of Mosquito Culex quinquefasciatus.

ABSTRACT: Wolbachia pipientis, a bacterial symbiont infecting arthropods and nematodes, is vertically transmitted through the female germline and manipulates its host's reproduction to favor infected females. Wolbachia also infects somatic tissues where it can cause nonreproductive phenotypes in its host, including resistance to viral pathogens. Wolbachia-mediated phenotypes are strongly associated with the density of Wolbachia in host tissues. Little is known, however, about how Wolbachia density is regulated in native or heterologous hosts. Here, we measure the broad-sense heritability of Wolbachia density among families in field populations of the mosquito Culex pipiens, and show that densities in ovary and nongonadal tissues of females in the same

SUBMITTER: Emerson KJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5555468 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature