1. Wolbachia and the Ant Vanda Makris June 3, 2003 Microbial Ecology

2.  General Information about Wolbachia  Tree of Life  Relationship with Ants  Effects of Wolbachia on Ant  Other species

3. Wolbachia General Info   -proteobacteria  Maternally transmitted  Primarily infect arthropods (insects)  At least 20-75% of all insect species are infected by Wolbachia  Infect primarily the reproductive tissues  Close relative to E. coli

4. Tree of Life

5. Wolbachia and Ant Relationship Not such a loving relationship… The Relationship between Wolbachia and the Ant is purely parasitic. Wolbachia utilize the females in the species for their reproduction and survival and therefore it is beneficial to them to keep their hosts alive. Since they are not transferred in the male sperm this poses a HUGE problem for the males in the infected ant species.

6. Effects of Wolbachia Colonization on Ants  Transmission enhanced by a variety of mechanisms:  Cytoplasmic incompatibility  Thelytokous parthenogenesis  Feminization of genetic males  Male killing  Increased mating success of infected males via sperm competition

8. Other species…  WASPS  DROSOPHILAS  MOSQUITOS  LADY BUGS  PILL BUGS