Loading…
Mating receptivity mediated by endosymbiont interactions in a haplodiploid thrips species
Many arthropods carry maternally inherited endosymbionts that cause cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI), manifested as embryonic mortality in matings of infected males with uninfected females. Infected females, however, do not suffer this cost. Therefore, in populations with mixed endosymbiont infectio...
Saved in:
Published in: | Proceedings of the Royal Society. B, Biological sciences Biological sciences, 2024-10, Vol.291 (2033), p.20241564 |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , |
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Subjects: | |
Citations: | Items that this one cites |
Online Access: | Get full text |
Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
Summary: | Many arthropods carry maternally inherited endosymbionts that cause cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI), manifested as embryonic mortality in matings of infected males with uninfected females. Infected females, however, do not suffer this cost. Therefore, in populations with mixed endosymbiont infections, selection is expected to favour mechanisms that enable hosts to avoid or mitigate CI. This may include changes in mating behaviour, such as reduced female receptivity to mating and/or remating when approached by incompatible males. Here, we investigated mating behavioural traits in haplodiploid thrips naturally associated with two CI-inducing endosymbionts,
and
. Compared with females with both endosymbionts, those with only
showed reduced receptivity to males carrying both. However, surprisingly, females without endosymbionts were not less receptive to incompatible males. Furthermore, in contrast to females without endosymbionts, females with
were far less likely to remate with incompatible than compatible males irrespective of the compatibility type of the first mating. Our results suggest that endosymbiont-specific sexual selection processes occur, whereby females carrying only
recognize
in coinfected males to avoid CI. This may hinder a CI-driven
spread. Endosymbiont-mediated mating behaviours may be crucial for the dynamics of CI-inducing endosymbionts and their application in pest management strategies. |
---|---|
ISSN: | 0962-8452 1471-2954 1471-2954 |
DOI: | 10.1098/rspb.2024.1564 |