title: Global Wolbachia prevalence, titer fluctuations and their potential of causing cytoplasmic incompatibilities in tsetse flies and hybrids of Glossina morsitans subgroup species.
abstract: We demonstrate the high applicability of a novel VNTR-based (Variable-Number-Tandem-Repeat) molecular screening tool for fingerprinting Wolbachia-infections in tsetse flies. The VNTR-141 locus provides reliable and concise differentiation between Wolbachia strains deriving from Glossina morsitans morsitans, Glossina morsitans centralis, and Glossina brevipalpis. Moreover, we show that certain Wolbachia-infections in Glossina spp. are capable of escaping standard PCR screening methods by 'hiding' as low-titer infections below the detection threshold. By applying a highly sensitive PCR-blot technique to our Glossina specimen, we were able to enhance the symbiont detection limit substantially and, consequently, trace unequivocally Wolbachia-infections at high prevalence in laboratory-reared G. swynnertoni individuals. To our knowledge, Wolbachia-persistence was reported exclusively for field-collected samples, and at low prevalence only. Finally, we highlight the substantially higher Wolbachia titer levels found in hybrid Glossina compared to non-hybrid hosts and the possible impact of these titers on hybrid host fitness that potentially trigger incipient speciation in tsetse flies.
authors.affiliation: Laboratories of Genome Dynamics, Department Cell and Developmental Biology, Center of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Daniela I
authors.initials: DI
authors.lastname: Schneider
authors.forename: Kathrin I
authors.initials: KI
authors.lastname: Garschall
authors.forename: Andrew G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Parker
authors.forename: Adly M M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Abd-Alla
authors.forename: Wolfgang J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Miller
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000382:microbiology; D018598:Minisatellite Repeats / Q000235:genetics*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D015995:Prevalence; D014370:Tsetse Flies / Q000382:microbiology*; D020577:Wolbachia / Q000235:genetics*