›› 2014, Vol. 57 ›› Issue (8): 914-920.

• RESEARCH PAPERS • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Infection and reproductive effects of Wolbachia in the hawthorn spider mite, Amphitetranychus viennensis (Acarina: Tetranychidae)

ZHANG Yan-Kai, SUN Bing, HONG Xiao-Yue*   

  1.  (Department of Entomology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China)
  • Online:2014-08-20 Published:2014-08-20

Abstract: 【Aim】 Endosymbiont Wolbachia can induce cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) and alterative fitness in spider mites, affecting the biological characteristics of hosts. The hawthorn spider mite, Amphitetranychus viennensis, is one of the most important pest mites on fruit trees and often causes serious damage to agricultural industry. This study aims to clarify the infection status and reproductive effects of Wolbachia in A. viennensis. 【Methods】 The Wolbachia infection in natural population of A. viennensis was analyzed using multilocus sequence typing (MLST). By crossing and biological experiments, the effects of Wolbachia on the fecundity, offspring hatchability, sex ratio and mortality of the host A. viennensis were investigated. 【Results】 A. viennensis was infected with a Wolbachia strain, wVie, which has a closer phylogenetic relationship with Wolbachia from Orius strigicollis and Nasonia vitripennis than with Wolbachia from spider mites of Tetranychus genus. Wolbachia are associated with four little divergent mitochondrial haplotypes. Fecundity of infected and uninfected females did not differ significantly (P>0.05). When infected males mated with uninfected females, the egg hatching rate was significantly lower than that in other cross combinations (P<0.05), but the hatchability still reached 75%. The offspring sex ratio and mortality of each cross did not change significantly (P>0.05). 【Conclusion】 Wolbachia infection in A. viennensis is a recent event and has no effect on host fecundity, offspring sex ratio and mortality. Wolbachia induces weak CI in A. viennensis.

Key words:  Wolbachia, Amphitetranychus viennensis, multilocus sequence typing (MLST), infection history, infection rate, reproductive manipulation