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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, July 2008, p. 3943-3948, Vol. 74, No. 13
0099-2240/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.02607-07
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Wolbachia Infection Alters Olfactory-Cued Locomotion in Drosophila spp.{triangledown}

Yu Peng,1,2 John E. Nielsen,2,{dagger} J. Paul Cunningham,2 and Elizabeth A. McGraw2*

The School of Life Sciences, Hubei University, Wuhan 430062, People's Republic of China,1 The School of Integrative Biology, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia2

Received 19 November 2007/ Accepted 26 April 2008

Wolbachia pipientis is an endosymbiotic bacterium present in diverse insect species. Although it is well studied for its dramatic effects on host reproductive biology, little is known about its effects on other aspects of host biology, despite its presence in a wide array of host tissues. This study examined the effects of three Wolbachia strains on two different Drosophila species, using a laboratory performance assay for insect locomotion in response to olfactory cues. The results demonstrate that Wolbachia infection can have significant effects on host responsiveness that vary with respect to the Wolbachia strain-host species combination. The wRi strain, native to Drosophila simulans, increases the basal activity level of the host insect as well as its responsiveness to food cues. In contrast, the wMel strain and the virulent wMelPop strain, native to Drosophila melanogaster, cause slight decreases in responsiveness to food cues but do not alter basal activity levels in the host. Surprisingly, the virulent wMelPop strain has very little impact on host responsiveness in D. simulans. This novel strain-host relationship was artificially created previously by transinfection. These findings have implications for understanding the evolution and spread of Wolbachia infections in wild populations and for Wolbachia-based vector-borne disease control strategies currently being developed.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: School of Integrative Biology, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia. Phone: 61 7 3365 7404. Fax: 61 7 3365 1655. E-mail: e.mcgraw{at}uq.edu.au

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 2 May 2008.

{dagger} Present address: Biosecurity Australia, Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Forestry, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, July 2008, p. 3943-3948, Vol. 74, No. 13
0099-2240/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.02607-07
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Evans, O., Caragata, E. P., McMeniman, C. J., Woolfit, M., Green, D. C., Williams, C. R., Franklin, C. E., O'Neill, S. L., McGraw, E. A. (2009). Increased locomotor activity and metabolism of Aedes aegypti infected with a life-shortening strain of Wolbachia pipientis. J. Exp. Biol. 212: 1436-1441 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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