The inherited bacterial symbiont Hamiltonella influences the sex ratio of an insect host
The inherited bacterial symbiont Hamiltonella influences the sex ratio of an insect host
复制标题
遗传性细菌共生体汉密尔顿氏菌影响昆虫宿主的性别比
DOI：
10.1098/rspb.2019.1677
复制
发表时间：
2019-11-20
影响因子：
4.7
通讯作者：
Liu, Shu-Sheng
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Shan, Hong-Wei;Luan, Jun-Bo;Liu, Shu-Sheng
In many intracellular symbioses, the microbial symbionts provide nutrients advantageous to the host. However, the function of Hamiltonella defensa, a symbiotic bacterium localized in specialized host cells (bacteriocytes) of a whitefly Bemisia tabaci, is uncertain. We eliminate this bacterium from its whitefly host by two alternative methods: heat treatment and antibiotics. The sex ratio of the host progeny and subsequent generations of Hamiltonella-free females was skewed from 1 : 1 (male : female) to an excess of males, often exceeding a ratio of 20 : 1. B. tabaci is haplodiploid, with diploid females derived from fertilized eggs and haploid males from unfertilized eggs. The Hamiltonella status of the insect did not affect copulation frequency or sperm reserve in the spermathecae, indicating that the male-biased sex ratio is unlikely due to the limitation of sperm but likely to be associated with events subsequent to sperm transfer to the female insects, such as failure in fertilization. The host reproductive response to Hamiltonella elimination is consistent with two alternative processes: adaptive shift in sex allocation by females and a constitutive compensatory response of the insect to Hamiltonella-mediated manipulation. Our findings suggest that a bacteriocyte symbiont influences the reproductive output of female progeny in a haplodiploid insect.
