Genetics. Published Articles Ahead of Print: June 3, 2005, Copyright © 2005
doi:10.1534/genetics.104.038901


A more recent version of this article appeared on August 1, 2005.


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Widespread prevalence of Wolbachia in laboratory stocks and the implications for Drosophila research

1 The University of Chicago

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: t.l.karr{at}bath.ac.uk.

Submitted on November 25, 2004
Revised on January 24, 2005
Accepted on 22 March 2005


Abstract

Wolbachia is an intracellular microbe harbored by a wide variety of arthropods (including Drosophila) and filarial nematodes. Employing several different strategies including male killing, induced parthenogenesis, cytoplasmic incompatibility and feminization, and acting by as yet unknown mechanisms, Wolbachia alters host reproduction to increase its representation within a population. Wolbachia is closely associated with gametic incompatibility but also interacts with Drosophila in other, little understood ways. We report here significant and wide-spread infection of Wolbachia within laboratory stocks and its real and potential impact on Drosophila research. We describe the results of a survey indicating that approximately 30% of stocks currently housed at the Bloomington Drosophila Stock Center are infected with Wolbachia. Cells of both reproductive tissues and numerous somatic organs harbor Wolbachia and display considerable variation in infection levels within and between both tissue types. These results are discussed from the perspective of Wolbachia's potential confounding effects on both host fitness and phenotypic analyses. In addition to this cautionary message, the infection status of stock centers may provide further opportunities to study the genetic basis of host/symbiosis.

Key Words: Drosophila melanogaster, Wolbachia, phenotypic analyses




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