Multiple Wolbachia determinants control the evolution of cytoplasmic incompatibilities in Culex pipiens mosquito populations

Wolbachia are maternally inherited endosymbionts that can invade arthropod populations through manipulation of their reproduction. In mosquitoes, Wolbachia induce embryonic death, known as cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI), whenever infected males mate with females either uninfected or infected with...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Molecular ecology 2011-01, Vol.20 (2), p.286-298
Main Authors: ATYAME, CELESTINE M., DURON, OLIVIER, TORTOSA, PABLO, PASTEUR, NICOLE, FORT, PHILIPPE, WEILL, MYLENE
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal reproduction
Animals
Arthropoda
Bacteria
Biochemistry, Molecular Biology
Biological Evolution
Crosses, Genetic
Culex
Culex - genetics
Culex - microbiology
Culex - physiology
Culex pipiens
Cytoplasm
Cytoplasm - physiology
cytoplasmic incompatibility
DNA, Mitochondrial
DNA, Mitochondrial - genetics
evolution
Female
Genetic Markers
Indian Ocean
Life Sciences
Male
Mitosis
mod/resc determinants
Molecular biology
Mosquitoes
Polymerase Chain Reaction
Polymorphism, Genetic
Sequence Analysis, DNA
Symbiosis
Wolbachia
Wolbachia - genetics
Wolbachia - physiology
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Summary:Wolbachia are maternally inherited endosymbionts that can invade arthropod populations through manipulation of their reproduction. In mosquitoes, Wolbachia induce embryonic death, known as cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI), whenever infected males mate with females either uninfected or infected with an incompatible strain. Although genetic determinants of CI are unknown, a functional model involving the so‐called mod and resc factors has been proposed. Natural populations of Culex pipiens mosquito display a complex CI relationship pattern associated with the highest Wolbachia (wPip) genetic polymorphism reported so far. We show here that C. pipiens populations from La Réunion, a geographically isolated island in the southwest of the Indian Ocean, are infected with genetically closely related wPip strains. Crossing experiments reveal that these Wolbachia are all mutually compatible. However, crosses with genetically more distant wPip strains indicate that Wolbachia strains from La Réunion belong to at least five distinct incompatibility groups (or crossing types). These incompatibility properties which are strictly independent from the nuclear background, formally establish that in C. pipiens, CI is controlled by several Wolbachia mod/resc factors.
ISSN:0962-1083
1365-294X
DOI:10.1111/j.1365-294X.2010.04937.x