A comparative analysis of Wolbachia-induced host reproductive phenotypes reveals transition rate heterogeneity.

ABSTRACT: The endosymbiotic bacterium Wolbachia infects a wide range of arthropods and their relatives. It is an intracellular parasite transmitted through the egg from mother to offspring. Wolbachia can spread and persist through various means of host reproductive manipulation. How these different mechanisms of host manipulation evolved in Wolbachia is unclear. Which host reproductive phenotype is most likely to be ancestral and whether evolutionary transitions between some host phenotypes are more common than others remain unanswered questions. Recent studies have revealed multiple cases where the same Wolbachia strain can induce different reproductive phenotypes in different hosts, raising the question to what degree the induced host phenotype should be regarded as a t

SUBMITTER: Zu Dohna H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5817148 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature