ARS | Publication request: TWO DIFFERENT WOLBACHIAS FOUND IN NORTHERN CORN ROOTWORM

Submitted to: Insect Genomics Workshop Arlington Virginia October 2001
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: November 20, 2001
Publication Date: October 28, 2001

Technical Abstract: Wolbachia sp. are endosymbiotic bacteria that are widespread in Arthropods. They are often associated with reproductive incompatibilities when mating occurs between infected and uninfected individuals. PCR with Wolbachia-specific primers was used test for the presence of Wolbachia in northern corn rootworms (NCR). 205/311 NCR gave a positive test for Wolbachia with 16S rDNA primers. The Wolbachia are restricted to the eastern part of the NCR range. A Wolbachia +/- boundary was found in central Illinois. 1058 bp segments of the Wolbachia ftsZ were cloned and sequenced. A western corn rootworm (WCR) Wolbachia was included for comparison to published sequences from that species. The NCR Wolbachia sequences fall into two groups. NCR Wolbachia from eastern Illinois to Pennsylvania were nearly identical to Wolbachia from WCR (1-3 bp different, <0.3%). NCR Wolbachia from central Illinois are very different (33 bp different including a deletion of one triplet, 3.1%). The boundary between these two very distinct strains of Wolbachia in adjacent geographical populations of NCR correlates with a previously observed mtDNA genetic boundary.