Wolbachia-induced parthenogenesis

摘要

Arrhenotoky is the means by which wasps and bees (Hymenoptera) reproduce sexually. With arrhenotoky males normally develop from unfertilized (haploid) eggs and females from fertilized (diploid) eggs. In contrast, thelytoky is parthenogenetic development in Hymenoptera in which females arise from unfertilized eggs. Its incidence in Hymenoptera is substantial. Many hymenopteran taxa have species that manifest thelytoky, while in a few cases, whole taxa manifest it cyclically (e.g. Cynipidae). For some time elevated temperatures have been known to induce production of males in some thelytokous species. We used such males and arrhenotokous females of wasp species, Trichogramma pretiosum and T. deion, to show that thelytoky is not a mendelian inheritedtrait (Stouthamer et al. 1990). Thus, extra-chromosomal inheritance was suspected. Feeding antibiotics to infected wasps induced production of male offspring and identified Wolbachia as the bacterium involved (Rousset et al. 1992, Stouthamer et al. 1993). Parthenogenesis from Wolbachia infection has now been verified in more than 30 species (Luck et al. 1992, Stouthamer 1997).