Dynamics of Wolbachia in Neotropical Fig Wasps

沃尔巴克氏体是一种母体遗传的细菌，广泛存在于节肢动物和丝状线虫中。本研究将以新热带无花果黄蜂为模型系统，研究沃尔巴克氏体在寄主昆虫体内的动态和适应性效应。具体而言，拟开展的研究将包括：1)沃尔巴克氏体的种群动态；2)沃尔巴克氏体对宿主繁殖的影响；3)沃尔巴克氏体的分子进化及其对宿主线粒体和核DNA变异的影响；4)沃尔巴克氏体的生态和进化传播。最终，这些数据的结合将提供迄今为止最清晰的图像，即传播模式、宿主种群结构和沃尔巴克氏体对宿主繁殖的影响如何相互作用，从而影响沃尔巴克氏体在自然宿主种群中的动态。由于沃尔巴克氏体的广泛分布、多样的表型效应以及以多种方式操纵宿主的能力，沃尔巴克氏体目前引起了广泛生物学家的兴趣，包括那些研究宿主-寄生虫进化、毒力进化、基因组内冲突、自私遗传因素、群体遗传学和进化生物学的生物学家。重要的是，由于沃尔巴克氏体存在于许多与严重人类疾病相关的宿主物种中，包括蚊子、采采蝇和丝状线虫，这些微生物可能被证明是对这些物种进行生物操纵的有用媒介，例如，通过推动具有寄生虫抗性或对杀虫剂敏感的基因的传播。拟议的实验将解决沃尔巴克氏体和无花果黄蜂线粒体进化的短期和长期动态，并将与确定沃尔巴克氏体是否可以将轻微有害的母系遗传基因带入种群有关。

Wolbachia are maternally inherited bacteria that are found in a wide range of arthropods and filarial nematodes. The proposed research will use Neotropical fig wasps as a model system to study the dynamics and fitness effects of Wolbachia in their insect hosts. Specifically, the proposed research will investigate: 1) the population dynamics of Wolbachia, 2) the effects of Wolbachia on their hosts' reproduction, 3) the molecular evolution of Wolbachia and the effects of Wolbachia on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA variation in host populations, and 4) the ecological and evolutionary transmission of Wolbachia. Ultimately, combination of these data will provide the clearest picture yet of how transmission patterns, host population structure, and Wolbachia effects on host reproduction interact to influence Wolbachia dynamics in natural host populations.BECAUSE OF THEIR WIDESPREAD DISTRIBUTION AND THEIR VARIED PHENOTYPIC EFFECTS AND ABILITY TO MANIPULATE THEIR HOSTS IN NUMEROUS WAYS, WOLBACHIA CURRENTLY ARE OF INTEREST TO A BROAD SPECTRUM OF BIOLOGISTS INCLUDING THOSE STUDYING HOST-PARASITE EVOLUTION, EVOLUTION OF VIRULENCE, INTRAGENOMIC CONFLICT, SELFISH GENETIC ELEMENTS, POPULATION GENETICS, AND EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY IN GENERAL. IMPORTANTLY, BECAUSE WOLBACHIA OCCUR IN A NUMBER OF HOST SPECIES THAT ARE ASSOCIATED WITH SERIOUS HUMAN DISEASES, INCLUDING MOSQUITOES, TSETSE FLIES, AND FILARIAL NEMATODES, THESE MICROBES MAY PROVE TO BE USEFUL AGENTS FOR BIOLOGICAL MANIPULATION OF THESE SPECIES, FOR INSTANCE BY DRIVING THE SPREAD OF GENES CONFERRING RESISTANCE TO PARASITES OR SUSCEPTIBILITY TO PESTICIDES. THE PROPOSED EXPERIMENTS WILL ADDRESS BOTH THE SHORT- AND LONG-TERM DYNAMICS OF WOLBACHIA AND MITOCHONDRIAL EVOLUTION WITHIN FIG WASPS AND WILL BE RELEVANT TO DETERMINING WHETHER WOLBACHIA CAN DRIVE SLIGHTLY DELETERIOUS, MATERNALLY INHERITED GENES INTO A POPULATION.