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

沃尔巴克氏体是一种母体传播的细菌，存在于大约25%的昆虫体内。它们的传播是通过操纵宿主繁殖的各种方式完成的，包括无性孤雌生殖和杀死胚胎雄性。这些感染的传播是由母体传播的保真度和沃尔巴克氏体操纵宿主繁殖的有效性控制的。这项拟议中的研究将研究包括季节、温度、蘑菇抗生素和苍蝇年龄在内的环境变量如何影响杀死雄性沃尔巴克氏体的宿主物种——努比拉果蝇（Drosophila innubila）的密度。该研究还将量化野外蝇类沃尔巴克氏体密度的变化，并通过实验确定沃尔巴克氏体密度与后代性别比例之间的关系。沃尔巴克氏体存在于一些昆虫（如蚊子和采采蝇）中，这些昆虫是重要人类疾病的媒介，它们与对人类和家畜致病的细菌（如立克次体、无形体和埃利希体）有关。拟议的研究将有助于了解这些感染在自然种群中的动态，这方面我们知之甚少。这项研究的新颖之处在于，它将在两个层面上连接这些感染的种群动态：个体宿主内的密度变化和这些宿主种群中的感染百分比。这项研究还可能导致新的抗生素的发现。

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.