Wolbachia infection in the tribe Naupactini: association between thelytokous parthenogenesis and infection status

MARCELA RODRIGUERO; VIVIANA CONFALONIERI; JERSON GUEDES; ANALIA LANTERI

INSECT MOLECULAR BIOLOGY

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Año: 2010 vol. 19 p. 631 - 640

0962-1075

Several parthenogenetic species of broad-nosed weevils exist, some of them of economic importance because of their pest status. Screening of the maternally inherited Wolbachia bacterium in 29 weevils of the tribe Naupactini, using multilocus sequence typing allowed us to assess a significant correlation between asexuality and infection, and suggests an involvement of Wolbachia in the origin of this reproductive mode. The nine Wolbachia strains retrieved from the Naupactini belong to the B supergroup. Phylogenetic analysis of these strains, along with other 23 strains obtained from arthropods and nematodes, supports previous hypotheses that horizontal transfer of Wolbachia amongst species from unrelated taxa has been pervasive.