Distribution of endosymbiotic reproductive manipulators reflects invasion process and not reproductive system polymorphism in the little fire ant Wasmannia auropunctata

PLoS One. 2013;8(3):e58467. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0058467. Epub 2013 Mar 11.

Abstract

Endosymbiotic reproductive manipulators may have drastic effects on the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of their hosts. The prevalence of these endosymbionts reflects both their ability to manipulate their hosts and the history of the host populations. The little fire ant Wasmannia auropunctata displays a polymorphism in both its reproductive system (sexual versus clonal populations) and the invasive status of its populations (associated to a habitat shift). We first screened for the presence of a diverse array of reproductive parasites in sexual and clonal populations of W. auropunctata, as a means to investigate the role of endosymbionts in reproductive phenotypes. Wolbachia was the only symbiont found and we then focused on its worldwide distribution and diversity in natural populations of W. auropunctata. Using a multilocus scheme, we further characterized the Wolbachia strains present in these populations. We found that almost all the native sexual populations and only a few clonal populations are infected by Wolbachia. The presence of similar Wolbachia strains in both sexual and clonal populations indicates that they are probably not the cause of the reproductive system polymorphism. The observed pattern seems rather associated to the invasion process of W. auropunctata. In particular, the observed loss of Wolbachia in clonal populations, that recurrently emerged from sexual populations, likely resulted from natural heat treatment and/or relaxed selection during the shift in habitat associated to the invasion process.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Ants / microbiology*
  • Ants / physiology*
  • Female
  • Genes, Bacterial
  • Genotype
  • Male
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Multilocus Sequence Typing
  • Phylogeny
  • Reproduction*
  • Symbiosis*
  • Wolbachia / classification
  • Wolbachia / genetics*

Associated data

  • GENBANK/JX499039
  • GENBANK/JX499040
  • GENBANK/JX499041
  • GENBANK/JX499042
  • GENBANK/JX499043
  • GENBANK/JX499044
  • GENBANK/JX499045
  • GENBANK/JX499046
  • GENBANK/JX499047
  • GENBANK/JX499048
  • GENBANK/JX499049
  • GENBANK/JX499050
  • GENBANK/JX499051
  • GENBANK/JX499052
  • GENBANK/JX499053
  • GENBANK/JX499054
  • GENBANK/JX499055
  • GENBANK/JX499056
  • GENBANK/JX499057
  • GENBANK/JX499058
  • GENBANK/JX499059
  • GENBANK/JX499060
  • GENBANK/JX499061
  • GENBANK/JX499062
  • GENBANK/JX499063
  • GENBANK/JX499064
  • GENBANK/JX499065
  • GENBANK/JX499066
  • GENBANK/JX499067
  • GENBANK/JX499068
  • GENBANK/JX499069
  • GENBANK/JX499070

Grants and funding

This work was supported by grants from the French Ministère de l’Ecologie et du Développement Durable (ECOTROP programme) awarded to AE and from the French Agropolis foundation (RTRA- Montpellier, BIOFIS project 1001–001) to AE and BF. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.