Effects of Wolbachia in the uzifly, Exorista sorbillans, a parasitoid of the silkworm, Bombyx mori

Abstract

The uzifly, Exorista sorbillans (Diptera: Tachinidae), a parasitoid of the silkworm, Bombyx mori L. (Lepidoptera: Bombycidae), harbours Wolbachia (Rickettsia) endosymbionts. Administration of 0.05 mg/ml oxytetracycline to the adult uziflies removed Wolbachia endosymbionts and resulted in different reproductive disorders, such as i) reduction in fecundity of uninfected females, ii) cytoplasmic incompatibility in crosses between infected males and uninfected females, iii) sterility in the crosses between both males and females from uninfected populations, and iv) sex-ratio distortion in uninfected females irrespective of the presence of Wolbachia in males. However, tetracycline treatment did not have much effect on longevity of the uzifly. These results suggest that the interaction of Wolbachia with its uzifly host is one of mutual symbiosis as it controls the reproductive physiology of its hosts.