Wolbachia Infection of Neoceratitis asiatica (Diptera: Tephritidae)

Abstract

Neoceratitis asiatica (Becker) (Diptera: Tephritidae), known as wolfberry fruit fly, is a harmful pest of Lycium barbarum (Solanaceae). Neoceratitis asiatica female adults insert the ovipositor into the peel of L. barbarum and lay eggs, causing reductions in yield and economic loss. The symbiotic bacteria Wolbachia spp. have attracted considerable attention and interest by entomologists in recent years. Wolbachia infect many genera of tephritid fruit flies, such as Anastrepha, Bactrocera, Rhagoletis, Dacus, Ceratitis, and Carypomya. Wolbachia can induce complete cytoplasmic incompatibility in novel hosts, leading to complete suppression of laboratory populations by single releases of infected males, which potentially makes it a useful method for pest management. In this study, the infection of Wolbachia in N. asiatica from the Ningxia region in China was detected based on the Wolbachia surface protein gene sequence. The neighbor-joining tree showed Wolbachia in wolfberry fruit fly was wRi strain. This research lays the foundation for further study about Wolbachia in Chinese wolfberry fruit fly, and also provides a basis for the prevention and control of other economically important fruit flies using Wolbachia.