Environmental and Genetic Contributions to Imperfect wMel-Like Wolbachia Transmission and Frequency Variation.

ABSTRACT: Maternally transmitted Wolbachia bacteria infect about half of all insect species. They usually show imperfect maternal transmission and often produce cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI). Irrespective of CI, Wolbachia frequencies tend to increase when rare only if they benefit host fitness. Several Wolbachia, including wMel that infects Drosophila melanogaster, cause weak or no CI and persist at intermediate frequencies. On the island of São Tomé off West Africa, the frequencies of wMel-like Wolbachia infecting Drosophila yakuba (wYak) and Drosophila santomea (wSan) fluctuate, and the contributions of imperfect maternal transmission, fitness effects, and CI to these fluctuations are unknown. We demonstrate spatial va

SUBMITTER: Hague MTJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7404227 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature