Relations of Wolbachia Infection with Phylogeography of Philaenus spumarius (Hemiptera: Aphrophoridae) Populations Within and Beyond the Carpathian Contact Zone.

Agata Lis,Anna Maryańska-Nadachowska,Łukasz Kajtoch

doi:10.1007/s00248-015-0570-2

Agata Lis, Anna Maryańska-Nadachowska + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-015-0570-2

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Abstract

Wolbachia is the most widespread intracellular α-proteobacteria maternally inherited endosymbiont of insects and nematodes. These bacteria are associated with a number of different reproductive phenotypes of their hosts. Relatively few studies have dealt with distribution of infections across populations and with the influence of these bacteria on host genetic diversification and speciation. The aims of this study are to determine the distribution and rate of infection and to characterize the Wolbachia strains associated with Philaenus spumarius spittlebug (Hemiptera) by using multilocus sequencing typing (MLST) analysis and host phylogeography. The results showed that infection rate was significantly different between members of both main mitochondrial phylogenetic lineages of P. spumarius. We detected much higher infection rates of Wolbachia in P. spumarius populations from the north-east clade than the south-west clade. Moreover, the frequency of these infections varied within and outside the contact zone known from the Carpathians. Given the reproductive alterations which are often associated with this endosymbiont, Wolbachia probably maintain genetic differentiation of its hosts in its contact zone in the Carpathians. This is one of the first studies demonstrating the presence of Wolbachia across a large part of the range of insect species, including the contact zone. The spread of Wolbachia in P. spumarius populations can potentially cause speciation by compromising the potential reproductive barrier between infected and uninfected populations. We discuss possible implications of Wolbachia infection inducing cytoplasmic incompatibility in the population dynamics of this spittlebug but confirm that more studies are also required.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00248-015-0570-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Highlights

Wolbachia is the most widespread intracellular αproteobacteria
This study provides the first evidence of Wolbachia infections in Philaenus spittlebugs; it represents primary research that includes distribution of these bacteria among P. spumarius populations across almost the entire species range and in the contact zone of the main phylogenetic lineages of this insect in the Carpathians
We discovered that approximately 41 % specimens of P. spumarius spittlebug across its entire range are Wolbachia positive, but the infection rate differs significantly between members of mitochondrial clades (c. 51 % infected in NE clades versus only c. 3 % in the SW clade) and in contact zone (c. 93 % from the NE clade and c. 46 % from the SW clade in this zone)

Summary

Introduction

Wolbachia is the most widespread intracellular αproteobacteria This maternally inherited endosymbiont is known to infect 15-76 % of insect species [37, 87]. Wolbachia lives inside the cytoplasm in reproductive tissues and is associated with a number of different reproductive phenotypes in its hosts, such as cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) [9, 34, 36, 72], feminization, parthenogenesis inducing (PI), male killing, and modifying fecundity [5, 33, 77]. The ability to manipulate the reproductive properties may have an effect on the host’s biology, ecology, and evolution [4]

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