Wolbachia interact with their hosts in a broad variety of relationships that range from parasitism to mutualism. To improve the understanding of complex relationships between Wolbachia and host, we performed not only mating and crossing experiments to investigate effects of Wolbachia on mate choice, mating performance, and reproduction in the confused flour beetles Tribolium confusum (Jacquelin du Val), but also quantitative PCR to determine Wolbachia spatiotemporal infection density dynamics within beetles. Wolbachia induced strong cytoplasmic incompatibility, but had no effects on male mate choice and mating performance. Compared with Wolbachia-uninfected females, infected females had very high fecundity irrespective of male's infection status. Wolbachia infection densities in beetles were higher in eggs and adults and in the reproductive tissues and abdomens, whereasWolbachia density in adults did not differ between sexes and among different ages. These results suggest that Wolbachia have evolved mutualistic interactions with T. confusum, which provides the first evidence ofWolbachia mutualisms in this beetle species.We discussed these findings and their evolutionary implications in light ofWolbachia—host interactions.
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1 June 2015
Wolbachia Infection Dynamics in Tribolium confusum (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) and Their Effects on Host Mating Behavior and Reproduction
Qing-Lei Ming,
Jia-Fei Shen,
Chao Cheng,
Chan-Min Liu,
Zhao-Jun Feng
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Journal of Economic Entomology
Vol. 108 • No. 3
June 2015
Vol. 108 • No. 3
June 2015
cytoplasmic incompatibility
fecundity
spatiotemporal density
Tribolium confusum
Wolbachia