AUTHOR=Zhang Yong , Liu Song , Jiang Rui , Zhang Chen , Gao Tian , Wang Yun , Liu Cui , Long Yanhua , Zhang Yinglao , Yang Yunqiu 

TITLE=Wolbachia Strain wGri From the Tea Geometrid Moth Ectropis grisescens Contributes to Its Host’s Fecundity

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=12

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2021.694466

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2021.694466

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p>Members of the <italic>Wolbachia</italic> genus manipulate insect–host reproduction and are the most abundant bacterial endosymbionts of insects. The tea Geometrid moth <italic>Ectropis grisescens</italic> (Warren) (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) is the most devastating insect pest of tea plants [<italic>Camellia sinensis</italic> (L.) O. Kuntze] in China. However, limited data on the diversity, typing, or phenotypes of <italic>Wolbachia</italic> in <italic>E. grisescens</italic> are available. Here, we used a culture-independent method to compare the gut bacteria of <italic>E. grisescens</italic> and other tea Geometridae moths. The results showed that the composition of core gut bacteria in larvae of the three Geometridae moth species was similar, except for the presence of <italic>Wolbachia</italic>. Moreover, <italic>Wolbachia</italic> was also present in adult female <italic>E. grisescens</italic> samples. A <italic>Wolbachia</italic> strain was isolated from <italic>E. grisescens</italic> and designated as <italic>w</italic>Gri. Comparative analyses showed that this strain shared multilocus sequence types and <italic>Wolbachia</italic> surface protein hypervariable region profiles with cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI)-inducing strains in supergroup B; however, the <italic>w</italic>Gri-associated phenotypes were undetermined. A reciprocal cross analysis showed that <italic>Wolbachia</italic>-uninfected females mated with infected males resulted in 100% embryo mortality (0% eggs hatched per female). Eggs produced by mating between uninfected males and infected females hatched normally. These findings indicated that <italic>w</italic>Gri induces strong unidirectional CI in <italic>E. grisescens</italic>. Additionally, compared with uninfected females, <italic>Wolbachia</italic>-infected females produced approximately 30–40% more eggs. Together, these results show that this <italic>Wolbachia</italic> strain induces reproductive CI in <italic>E. grisescens</italic> and enhances the fecundity of its female host. We also demonstrated that <italic>w</italic>Gri potential influences reproductive communication between <italic>E. grisescens</italic> and <italic>Ectropis obliqua</italic> through CI.</p>