ArticleBMC evolutionary biology2016
Evidence for common horizontal transmission of Wolbachia among butterflies and moths.
Article in BMC evolutionary biology, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 73 papers.
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Who cites it
73 citing papers in PubMed.
- Calibrating and documenting host-switching and evolution of incompatibility loci for two closely related Wolbachia clades.Genetics · 2026Article
- Host-Associated Occurrence of Wolbachia in Natural Populations of the Pyriform Scale Protopulvinaria pyriformis (Cockerell, 1894) in Moroccan Orchards.Neotropical entomology · 2026Article
- Calibrating and documenting host-switching and evolution of incompatibility loci for two closely relatedbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Exploration of Wolbachia strains in Amrasca biguttula Ishida (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) and its egg parasitoid Trichogramma chilonis (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae).BMC microbiology · 2026Article
- Host and Microbe Scale Processes Jointly Shape Spatial Variation in Aphaenogaster (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)associated Wolbachia.Research square · 2026Article
- The Diversity of Bacterial Symbionts in Major Agricultural Lepidopteran Pests in Australia.International journal of microbiology · 2026Article
- iSymBase: an integrative functional-genomic platform for ecological exploration of insect symbionts.ISME communications · 2026Article
- A high-quality draft genome assembly of the Neotropical butterfly, Batesia hypochlora (Nymphalidae: Biblidinae).BMC genomics · 2025Article
- Wolbachia Host Shifts and Widespread Occurrence of Reproductive Manipulation Loci in European Butterflies.Molecular ecology · 2025Article
- Detection of Wolbachia in Natural Populations of Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Tephritidae) Infesting Argan Fruits in Morocco.Neotropical entomology · 2025Article
- Gene Family Evolution Suggests Correlated Dietary Adaptations in Butterflies and Moths.Genome biology and evolution · 2025Article
- Recombination, Truncation and Horizontal Transfer Shape the Diversity of Wolbachia-induced Cytoplasmic Incompatibility Patterns.Molecular biology and evolution · 2025Article
- Host and Microbe Scale Processes Shape Spatial Variation inbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Microbial diversity and functional potential of the Halobates melleus (Heteroptera: Gerridae) microbiome from the Red Sea coastline.Environmental microbiome · 2025Article
- Microbial Symbiosis in Lepidoptera: Analyzing the Gut Microbiota for Sustainable Pest Management.Biology · 2025Review
- Wolbachia strain diversity in a complex group of sympatric cryptic parasitoid wasp species.BMC microbiology · 2024Article
- Describing endosymbiont-host interactions within the parasitism-mutualism continuum.Ecology and evolution · 2024Article
- Rapid host switching ofbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- Article
- Environmental Transmission of Symbionts in the Mangrove CrabsMicroorganisms · 2024Article
13 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundWolbachia is one of the most widespread bacteria on Earth. Previous research on Wolbachia-host interactions indicates that the bacterium is typically transferred vertically, from mother to offspring, through the egg cytoplasm. Although horizontal transmission of Wolbachia from one species to another is reported to be common in arthropods, limited direct ecological evidence is available. In this study, we examine horizontal transmission of Wolbachia using a multilocus sequence typing (MLST) strains dataset and used Wolbachia and Lepidoptera genomes to search for evidence for lateral gene transfer (LGT) in Lepidoptera, one of the most diverse cosmopolitan insect orders. We constructed a phylogeny of arthropod-associated MLST Wolbachia strains and calibrated the age of Wolbachia strains associated with lepidopteran species.
resultsOur results reveal inter-specific, inter-generic, inter-familial, and inter-ordinal horizontal transmission of Wolbachia strains, without discernible geographic patterns. We found at least seven probable cases of horizontal transmission among 31 species within Lepidoptera and between Lepidoptera and other arthropod hosts. The divergence time analysis revealed that Wolbachia is recently (22.6-4.7 mya, 95 % HPD) introduced in Lepidoptera. Analysis of nine Lepidoptera genomes (Bombyx mori, Danaus plexippus, Heliconius melpomene, Manduca sexta, Melitaea cinxia, Papilio glaucus, P. polytes, P. xuthus and Plutella xylostella) yielded one possible instance of Wolbachia LGT.
conclusionsOur results provide evidence of high incidence of identical and multiple strains of Wolbachia among butterflies and moths, adding Lepidoptera to the growing body of evidence for common horizontal transmission of Wolbachia. This study demonstrates interesting dynamics of this remarkable and influential microorganism.
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