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Incipient evolution of Wolbachia compatibility types

Sylvain Charlat1, Markus Riegler, Isabelle Baures

  • 1Institut Jacques Monod, CNRS-Université Paris 6, Laboratoire Dynamique du Genome et Evolution, 2 place Jussieu, 75251 Paris 05, France. s.charlat@ucl.ac.uk

Evolution; International Journal of Organic Evolution
|November 4, 2004
PubMed

Insights

Cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) in arthropods is driven by Wolbachia bacteria. Closely related Wolbachia variants can be incompatible, affecting sperm modification and egg rescue, leading to embryo death and revealing evolutionary patterns.

Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Microbial genetics
  • Arthropod reproduction

Background:

  • Cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) is a phenomenon in arthropods caused by the maternally inherited bacterium Wolbachia.
  • CI results in embryo death when infected males mate with uninfected females or females with different Wolbachia variants, due to bacterial modification (mod) and rescue (resc) effects.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the evolutionary processes underlying the divergence of Wolbachia mod/resc interaction systems.
  • To experimentally assess compatibility relationships between closely related Wolbachia variants from different dipteran hosts.

Main Methods:

  • Cytoplasmic injection of Wolbachia into Drosophila simulans.
  • Cross-mating experiments involving Wolbachia variants from Drosophila simulans, Drosophila melanogaster, and Rhagoletis cerasi.
  • Analysis of compatibility relationships based on embryo viability.

Main Results:

  • Closely related Wolbachia variants can exhibit total or partial incompatibility.
  • Observed compatibility patterns align with a formal model describing mod and resc functions, indicating qualitative and quantitative variations.
  • Experimental evidence supports the divergence of mod/resc pairs from common ancestors.

Conclusions:

  • The study provides experimental insights into the evolution of Wolbachia-induced cytoplasmic incompatibility.
  • Variations in bacterial modification and rescue functions contribute to the divergence of CI systems.
  • Understanding these interactions is crucial for studying Wolbachia-driven speciation and reproductive isolation in arthropods.

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