The Evolution and Biogeography of Wolbachia in Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Manuela O Ramalho,Corrie S Moreau

doi:10.3390/d12110426

Abstract

Wolbachia bacteria are widely distributed across invertebrate taxa, including ants, but several aspects of this host-associated interaction are still poorly explored, especially with regard to the ancestral state association, origin, and dispersion patterns of this bacterium. Therefore, in this study, we explored the association of Wolbachia with Formicidae in an evolutionary context. Our data suggest that supergroup F is the ancestral character state for Wolbachia infection in ants, and there is only one transition to supergroup A, and once ants acquired infection with supergroup A, there have been no other strains introduced. Our data also reveal that the origin of Wolbachia in ants likely originated in Asia and spread to the Americas, and then back to Asia. Understanding the processes and mechanisms of dispersion of these bacteria in Formicidae is a crucial step to advance the knowledge of this symbiosis and their implications in an evolutionary context.

Highlights

There are many examples of insect–microbe interactions providing benefits to all players involved [1,2,3,4,5], and one of the most well-documented bacteria associated with insects is Wolbachia [6,7].This bacterium is known for modifying the host’s reproduction for its own benefit, including the induction of cytoplasmic incompatibility, parthenogenesis, and male-killing or feminization [8].it is not known whether these functions are related to a particular Wolbachia strain or host [9]
Our Wolbachia phylogeny appears to be fairly robust when examining the results of posterior probability (PP); it grouped taxonomically unrelated ants, indicating that there is a lack of specificity of the host
Samples from 35 ant genera were included in this analysis, and as an example, 11 strains of Camponotus recovered from different locations around the world (Brazil, USA, Malaysia, India, and Thailand) were distributed across the phylogeny

Summary

Introduction

There are many examples of insect–microbe interactions providing benefits to all players involved [1,2,3,4,5], and one of the most well-documented bacteria associated with insects is Wolbachia [6,7].This bacterium is known for modifying the host’s reproduction for its own benefit, including the induction of cytoplasmic incompatibility, parthenogenesis, and male-killing or feminization [8].it is not known whether these functions are related to a particular Wolbachia strain or host [9]. There are many examples of insect–microbe interactions providing benefits to all players involved [1,2,3,4,5], and one of the most well-documented bacteria associated with insects is Wolbachia [6,7] This bacterium is known for modifying the host’s reproduction for its own benefit, including the induction of cytoplasmic incompatibility, parthenogenesis, and male-killing or feminization [8]. 17 supergroups, to date, have been reported through genotyping a single gene, several genes, or even genomic approaches [10] These supergroups are called “A to S”, with G and R no longer considered separate supergroups [11,12]. This offers us an excellent opportunity to explore the evolution and biogeography of this association

Objectives

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Results

Conclusion