title: Wolbachia induces male-specific mortality in the mosquito Culex pipiens (LIN strain).
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Wolbachia are maternally inherited endosymbionts that infect a diverse range of invertebrates, including insects, arachnids, crustaceans and filarial nematodes. Wolbachia are responsible for causing diverse reproductive alterations in their invertebrate hosts that maximize their transmission to the next generation. Evolutionary theory suggests that due to maternal inheritance, Wolbachia should evolve toward mutualism in infected females, but strict maternal inheritance means there is no corresponding force to select for Wolbachia strains that are mutualistic in males.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Using cohort life-table analysis, we demonstrate that in the mosquito Culex pipiens (LIN strain), Wolbachia-infected females show no fitness costs due to infection. However, Wolbachia induces up to a 30% reduction in male lifespan.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results indicate that the Wolbachia infection of the Culex pipiens LIN strain is virulent in a sex-specific manner. Under laboratory situations where mosquitoes generally mate at young ages, Wolbachia strains that reduce male survival could evolve by drift because increased mortality in older males is not a significant selective force.
authors.affiliation: The Department of Entomology, Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics and Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, United States of America. jlr54@psu.edu
authors.forename: Jason L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Rasgon
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D003465:Culex / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D056084:Genetic Fitness / Q000235:genetics; D015993:Life Tables; D008136:Longevity / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D009026:Mortality; D012737:Sex Factors; D020577:Wolbachia / Q000472:pathogenicity* / Q000502:physiology