title: Presence of Wolbachia in three hymenopteran species: Diprion pini (Hymenoptera: Diprionidae), Neodiprion sertifer (Hymenoptera: Diprionidae), and Dahlbominus fuscipennis (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae).
abstract: Sawflies are important pests of various plant species. Diprion pini (L.) and Neodiprion sertifer (Geoffroy) (Hymenoptera: Diprionidae) are two of the most important sawfly pests in Italy, and both species are parasitized by the hymenopteran parasitoid Dahlbominus fuscipennis (Zetterstedt). Bacterial endosymbionts are currently studied for their high potential in strategies of biocontrol in a number of insect species. In this study, we investigated the presence of symbiotic bacteria (Wolbachia and Cardinium) in the three species of hymenoptera mentioned earlier, both in wild and laboratory populations. Although all samples were negative for the presence of Cardinium, 100% prevalence for Wolbachia was detected, as all examined individuals resulted to be PCR positive. Furthermore, 16S rDNA and ftsZ gene sequencing indicated that all individuals from the three hymenopteran species are infected by a single Wolbachia strain. Additionally, we report the presence of gynandromorphic individuals in D. pini, both in wild and laboratory-reared populations. Heat treatments on D. pini colonies removed the Wolbachia symbionts, but they also prevented the development of adults.
authors.affiliation: Natural History Collections, University Museum of Bergen, P.O. Box 7800, 5020 Bergen, Norway.
authors.forename: Dario
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pistone
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, Università degli Studi di Bologna, Viale Fanin 44, 40127 Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bione
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie e Sanità Pubblica, Facoltà di Medicina Veterinaria, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 10, 20133 Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Epis
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie e Sanità Pubblica, Facoltà di Medicina Veterinaria, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 10, 20133 Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pajoro
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie e Sanità Pubblica, Facoltà di Medicina Veterinaria, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 10, 20133 Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gaiarsa
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie e Sanità Pubblica, Facoltà di Medicina Veterinaria, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 10, 20133 Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bandi
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie e Sanità Pubblica, Facoltà di Medicina Veterinaria, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 10, 20133 Milano, Italy Current address: Dipartimento di Biologia e Biotecnologie, Università degli Studi di Pavia, via Ferrata 9, 27100, Pavia, Italy davide.sassera@unimi.it davide.sassera@unipv.it.
authors.forename: Davide
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sassera
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006927:Hymenoptera / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000502:physiology*; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D009030:Mosaicism; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D013559:Symbiosis; D020577:Wolbachia / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal
keywords: diprionid wasp; endosymbiont; gynandromorphism; molecular screening