Within-Host Density and the Population Dynamics of Male-Killing Wolbachia

沃尔巴克氏菌是一种母传细菌，存在于大约25%的昆虫中。它们的传播是通过各种操纵宿主繁殖的手段完成的，包括无性孤雌生殖和杀死胚胎雄性。这些感染的传播取决于母体传播的保真度和沃尔巴克氏菌操纵宿主繁殖的有效性。这项拟议的研究将研究环境变量，包括季节、温度、蘑菇抗生素和苍蝇年龄，如何影响寄主果蝇体内杀死雄性的沃尔巴克氏菌的密度。这项研究还将量化野生果蝇中沃尔巴克氏菌密度的变化，并通过实验确定沃尔巴克氏菌密度与后代性别比之间的关系。沃尔巴克氏菌存在于一些昆虫(如蚊子和采采蝇)中，这些昆虫是重要的人类疾病的媒介，它们与对人类和家养动物致病的细菌(如立克次体、无浆体和埃立克体菌)有关。拟议的研究将有助于了解这些感染在自然人口中的动态，人们对此知之甚少。这项研究的新颖之处在于，它将在两个水平上联系这些感染的种群动态：单个宿主内的密度变化和这些宿主群体中的感染百分比。这项研究还可能导致发现新的抗生素。

Wolbachia are maternally transmitted bacteria that are present in approximately 25% of all insects. Their spread is accomplished by various means of manipulating host reproduction, including asexual parthenogenesis and killing embryonic males. The spread of these infections is governed by the fidelity of maternal transmission and the effectiveness with which Wolbachia manipulates host reproduction. The proposed research will examine how environmental variables, including season, temperature, mushroom antibiotics, and fly age, affect the density of a male-killing Wolbachia within its host species, Drosophila innubila. The research will also quantify variation in Wolbachia density among flies in the wild and experimentally determine the relation between Wolbachia density and offspring sex ratio. Wolbachia occur in some insects (such as mosquitoes and tsetse flies) that are vectors of important human diseases, and they related to bacteria (such as Rickettsia, Anaplasma, and Ehrlichia) that are pathogenic to humans and domesticated animals. The proposed research will contribute to understanding the dynamics of these infections in natural populations, about which very little is known. The novel component of this research is that it will connect the population dynamics of these infections at two levels: density variation within individual hosts and percent infection in populations of these hosts. The research may also lead to the discovery of new antibiotics.