Deleterious Wolbachia in the ant Formica truncorum

Proceedings. Biological Sciences
T WenseleersJ Billen

Abstract

Wolbachia is a maternally inherited bacterium that may manipulate the reproduction of its arthropod hosts. In insects, it is known to lead to inviable matings, cause asexual reproduction or kill male offspring, all to its own benefit, but to the detriment of its host. In social Hymenoptera, Wolbachia occurs widely, but little is known about its fitness effects. We report on a Wolbachia infection in the wood ant Formica truncorum, and evaluate whether it influences reproductive patterns. All 33 colonies of the study population were infected, suggesting that Wolbachia infection is at, or close to, fixation. Interestingly, in colonies with fewer infected workers, significantly more sexuals are produced, indicating that Wolbachia has deleterious effects in this species. In addition, adult workers are shown to have significantly lower infection rates (45%) than worker pupae (87%) or virgin queens (94%), suggesting that workers lose their infection over life. Clearance of Wolbachia infection has, to our knowledge, never been shown in any other natural system, but we argue that it may, in this case, represent an adaptive strategy to reduce colony load. The cause of fixation requires further study, but our data strongly suggest that Wo...Continue Reading

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Citations

Oct 6, 2005·Archives of Microbiology·Evelyn ZientzRoy Gross
May 19, 2009·Applied and Environmental Microbiology·Sascha Eilmus, Martin Heil
Dec 8, 2005·Annual Review of Entomology·Francis L W RatnieksTom Wenseleers
Nov 3, 2010·BMC Evolutionary Biology·Anu Sirviö, Pekka Pamilo
Feb 23, 2008·BMC Evolutionary Biology·Lumi ViljakainenPekka Pamilo
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Dec 5, 2008·Evolution; International Journal of Organic Evolution·Jacob A RussellNaomi E Pierce
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Nov 13, 2018·Insectes sociaux·D TreanorW O H Hughes
Oct 16, 2020·Microorganisms·Chih-Chi LeeChin-Cheng Scotty Yang
May 29, 2021·Evolution; International Journal of Organic Evolution·Çiğdem ÜnJan Oettler
Nov 14, 2021·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·German Lagunas-RoblesAlan Brelsford

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