1 research outputs found
<i>Wolbachia</i> springs eternal: symbiosis in Collembola is associated with host ecology
Wolbachia
are endosymbiotic alpha-proteobacteria infecting a wide range of arthropods and nematode hosts with diverse interactions, from reproductive parasites to obligate mutualists. Their taxonomy is defined by lineages called supergroups (labelled by letters of the alphabet), while their evolutionary history is complex, with multiple horizontal transfers and secondary losses. One of the least recently derived, supergroup E, infects springtails (Collembola), widely distributed hexapods, with sexual and/or parthenogenetic populations depending on species. To better characterize the diversity of
Wolbachia
infecting springtails, the presence of
Wolbachia
was screened in 58 species. Eleven (20%) species were found to be positive, with three
Wolbachia
genotypes identified for the first time in supergroup A. The novel genotypes infect springtails ecologically and biologically different from those infected by supergroup E. To root the
Wolbachia
phylogeny, rather than distant other Rickettsiales, supergroup L infecting plant-parasitic nematodes was used here. We hypothesize that the ancestor of
Wolbachia
was consumed by soil-dwelling nematodes, and was transferred horizontally via plants into aphids, which then infected edaphic arthropods (e.g. springtails and oribatid mites) before expanding into most clades of terrestrial arthropods and filarial nematodes.
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