10.5061/DRYAD.J24C8
Lindsey, Amelia R. I.
University of California, Riverside
Stouthamer, Richard
University of California, Riverside
Data from: The effects of outbreeding on a parasitoid wasp fixed for
infection with a parthenogenesis-inducing Wolbachia symbiont
Dryad
dataset
2017
intraspecific hybridization
Trichogramma pretiosum
reproductive modification
Symbiosis
Trichogramma
co-evolution
National Science Foundation
https://ror.org/021nxhr62
DEB-1501227
2017-08-10T16:18:49Z
2017-08-10T16:18:49Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1038/hdy.2017.53
38687 bytes
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CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
Trichogramma wasps can be rendered asexual by infection with the
maternally inherited symbiont Wolbachia. Previous studies indicate the
Wolbachia strains infecting Trichogramma wasps are host-specific, inferred
by failed horizontal transfer of Wolbachia to novel Trichogramma hosts.
Additionally, Trichogramma can become dependent upon their Wolbachia
infection for the production of female offspring, leaving them
irreversibly asexual, further linking host and symbiont. We hypothesized
Wolbachia strains infecting irreversibly asexual, resistant to horizontal
transfer Trichogramma would show adaptation to a particular host genetic
background. To test this, we mated Wolbachia-dependent females with males
from a Wolbachia-naïve population to create heterozygous wasps. We
measured sex ratios and fecundity, a proxy for Wolbachia fitness, produced
by heterozygous wasps, and by their recombinant offspring. We find a
heterozygote advantage, resulting in higher fitness for Wolbachia, as
wasps will produce more offspring without any reduction in the proportion
of females. While recombinant wasps did not differ in total fecundity
after ten days, recombinants produced fewer offspring early on, leading to
an increased female-biased sex ratio for the whole brood. Despite the
previously identified barriers to horizontal transfer of Wolbachia to and
from Trichogramma pretiosum, there were no apparent barriers for Wolbachia
to induce parthenogenesis in these non-native backgrounds. This is likely
due to the route of infection being introgression rather than horizontal
transfer, and possibly the co-evolution of Wolbachia with the mitochondria
rather than the nuclear genome. These results help to elucidate the
mechanisms by which Wolbachia adapt to hosts and the evolution of
host-symbiont phenotypes.
heterozygote_homozygote_reproductionThis file contains all the fecundity
and sex ratio raw data for the comparisons of heterozygote and homozygote
wasps.RIL_CON_reproductionThis file contains all the fecundity and sex
ratio raw data for the comparisons of RIL (recombinant) and CON (control)
wasps.