Abstract
While Wolbachia, an intracellular bacterial symbiont, is primarily transmitted maternally in arthropods, horizontal transmission between species has been commonly documented. We examined kleptoparasitism as a potential mechanism for Wolbachia horizontal transmission, using ant crickets and their host ants as the model system. We compared prevalence and diversity of Wolbachia across multiple ant cricket species with different degrees of host specificity/integration level. Our analyses revealed at least three cases of inter-ordinal Wolbachia transfer among ant and ant crickets, and also showed that ant cricket species with high host-integration and host-specificity tend to harbor a higher Wolbachia prevalence and diversity than other types of ant crickets. This study provides empirical evidence that distribution of Wolbachia across ant crickets is largely attributable to horizontal transmission, but also elucidates the role of intimate ecological association in successful Wolbachia horizontal transmission.
Highlights
Wolbachia are widespread, maternally-transmitted, intracellular bacteria, present in approximately half of all arthropod species [1,2]
We identified ten and six Wolbachia strains from the studied ant crickets and ants, respectively (Table 1)
Nine of the ten Wolbachia strains from ant crickets were fully typed by multi-locus sequence typing (MLST) and assigned to a sequence type (ST) (Table 1). wMsp1–wMsp8 and wMame1 are represented by seven unique MLSTs belonging to either Wolbachia supergroup A or F (Table 1)
Summary
Maternally-transmitted, intracellular bacteria, present in approximately half of all arthropod species [1,2]. Wolbachia must pass three main filters before successfully colonizing a new host species [8]. Wolbachia must come into physical contact with the potential host (encounter filter), evade the host’s immune system and replicate in the new host (compatibility filter). The community composition may affect filter stringency and shapes the epidemiological patterns of Wolbachia in a community. Communities composed of generalist or specialist species will affect both encounter and compatibility filters [9,10]. The intimate interspecific interactions by specialists are predicted to favor Wolbachia transmission. These interactions may restrict the transmission sources to a few species [9]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
