title: A screen of maternally inherited microbial endosymbionts in oribatid mites (Acari: Oribatida).
abstract: We determined the distribution of microbial endosymbionts as possible agents of parthenogenesis in Oribatida. We screened mites from 20 species of 14 families suspected to be parthenogenetic from the absence or rarity of males. Our research included parthenogenesis-inducing bacteria Wolbachia spp., Cardinium spp., Rickettsia spp., and additionally Arsenophonus, Spiroplasma and microsporidia that can also manipulate host reproduction. We detected the endosymbionts by PCR-based methods and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observation of fixed and stained preparations of host cells. We detected Wolbachia only in one Oribatida species, Oppiella nova, by identifying Wolbachia genes using PCR. TEM observations confirmed infection by the endosymbiont in O. nova and its lack in other Oribatida species. Sequence analysis of hcpA and fbpA genes showed that the Wolbachia strain from O. nova was different from strains characterized in some insects, crustaceans (Isopoda), mites (Tetranychidae), springtails (Hexapoda) and roundworms (Nematoda). The analysis strongly suggested that the Wolbachia sp. strain found in O. nova did not belong to supergroups A, B, C, D, E, F, H or M. We found that the sequences of Wolbachia from O. nova were clearly distantly related to sequences from the bacteria of the other supergroups. This observation makes O. nova a unique Wolbachia host in terms of the distinction of the strain. The role of these micro-organisms in O. nova remains unknown and is an issue to investigate.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Umultowska 89, 61-614 Poznań, Poland.
authors.forename: Edyta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Konecka
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Taxonomy and Ecology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Umultowska 89, 61-614 Poznań, Poland.
authors.forename: Ziemowit
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Olszanowski
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D018407:Bacterial Physiological Phenomena; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D058507:Host Specificity; D008297:Male; D008925:Mites / Q000145:classification / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000502:physiology; D010802:Phylogeny; D013045:Species Specificity; D013559:Symbiosis; D020577:Wolbachia / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins