Determination of Wolbachia Diversity in Butterflies from Western Ghats, India, by a Multigene Approach

摘要: ABSTRACT Members of the genus Wolbachia are intracellular bacteria that widespread in arthropods and establish diverse symbiotic associations with their hosts, ranging from mutualism to parasitism. Here we present first detailed analyses butterflies India screening 56 species. Twenty-nine species (52%) representing five families were positive for Wolbachia. This is report infection 27 29 species; other two reported previously. study also provides evidence family Papilionidae. A striking diversity was observed among strains butterfly hosts based on multilocus sequence typing (MLST) genes, 15 different types (STs). Thirteen STs new MLST database, whereas ST41 ST125 earlier. Some same host this carried distinctly strains, or harbored closely related strains. Butterfly-associated Indian sample originated by recombination point mutation, further supporting role both processes generating diversity. Recombination detected only not those database. Most remarkably similar wsp genotype, despite divergence MLST. Only alleles found 25 individuals complete hypervariable region (HVR) peptide profiles. Although show variability, gives better separation between Completely characterized sharing alleles.