ArticleBMC evolutionary biology2008
Wolbachia transmission dynamics in Formica wood ants.
Article in BMC evolutionary biology, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 41 citations in OpenAlex.
- Wolbachia in Antarctic terrestrial invertebrates: Absent or undiscovered?Environmental microbiology reports · 2024Article
- Evidence of phylosymbiosis inFrontiers in microbiology · 2023Article
- Assembly of a Hybrid Formica aquilonia × F. polyctena Ant Genome From a Haploid Male.The Journal of heredity · 2022Article
- First Insight into Microbiome Profiles of Myrmecophilous Beetles and Their Host, Red Wood AntInsects · 2020Article
- Article
- Intracellular Symbiotic Bacteria of Camponotus textor, Forel (Hymenoptera, Formicidae).Current microbiology · 2017Article
- Diversity and Transmission of Gut Bacteria inFrontiers in microbiology · 2017Article
- The distribution of Wolbachia in Cubitermes (Termitidae, Termitinae) castes and colonies: a modelling approach.PloS one · 2015Article
- Modeling the indirect effect of Wolbachia on the infection dynamics of horizontally transmitted viruses.Frontiers in microbiology · 2015Article
- Population genetics of bisexual and unisexual populations of the scaly-winged bark louse Echmepteryx hageni (Insecta: Psocoptera).Genetica · 2014Article
- Presence of Wolbachia in three hymenopteran species: Diprion pini (Hymenoptera: Diprionidae), Neodiprion sertifer (Hymenoptera: Diprionidae), and Dahlbominus fuscipennis (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae).Journal of insect science (Online) · 2014Article
- A metatranscriptomic approach to the identification of microbiota associated with the ant Formica exsecta.PloS one · 2013Article
- Chaos of Wolbachia sequences inside the compact fig syconia of Ficus benjamina (Ficus: moraceae).PloS one · 2012Article
- Comparisons of host mitochondrial, nuclear and endosymbiont bacterial genes reveal cryptic fig wasp species and the effects of Wolbachia on host mtDNA evolution and diversity.BMC evolutionary biology · 2011Article
- Assessment of bacterial diversity in the cattle tick Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus through tag-encoded pyrosequencing.BMC microbiology · 2011Article
- Multiple endosymbionts in populations of the ant Formica cinerea.BMC evolutionary biology · 2010Article
- Inherited fungal and bacterial endosymbionts of a parasitic wasp and its cockroach host.Microbial ecology · 2009Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe role of Wolbachia endosymbionts in shaping the mitochondrial diversity of their arthropod host depends on the effects they have on host reproduction and on the mode of transmission of the bacteria. We have compared the sequence diversity of wsp (Wolbachia surface protein gene) and the host mtDNA in a group of Formica ant species that have diverged approximately 0.5 million years ago (MYA). The aim was to study the relationship of Wolbachia and its ant hosts in terms of vertical and horizontal transmission of the bacteria.
resultsAll studied ant species were doubly infected with two Wolbachia strains (wFex1 and wFex4) all over their geographical distribution area in Eurasia. The most common haplotypes of these strains were identical with strains previously described from a more distantly related Formica ant, with an estimated divergence time of 3.5 - 4 MYA. Some strain haplotypes were associated to the same or closely related mtDNA haplotypes as expected under vertical transmission. However, in several cases the wsp haplotypes coexisted with distant mtDNA haplotypes, a pattern which is more compatible with horizontal transmission of the bacteria.
conclusionTwo lines of evidence suggest that the sharing of Wolbachia strains by all F. rufa species is rather due to horizontal than vertical transmission. First, the fact that endosymbiont strains identical to those of F. rufa ants have been found in another species that diverged 3.5-4 MYA strongly suggests that horizontal transfer can and does occur between Formica ants. Second, the frequent sharing of identical Wolbachia strains by distant mitochondrial lineages within the F. rufa group further shows that horizontal transmission has occurred repeatedly. Nevertheless, our dataset also provides some evidence for longer-term persistence of infection, indicating that Wolbachia infection within this host clade has been shaped by both horizontal and vertical transmission of symbionts. The fact that all the ants were infected irrespective of the family structure of their societies gives no support to the proposed hypotheses that the spreading of Wolbachia in ants might be associated to the types of their societies.
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