Rapid evolution of Wolbachia density in insecticide resistant Culex pipiens

Pierre Echaubard (1) , Olivier Duron (2) , P. Agnew (1) , C. Sidobre (1) , V. Noel (1) , Mylène Weill (2) , Yannis Michalakis (1)

1 GEMI - Génétique et évolution des maladies infectieuses
2 UMR ISEM - Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier

The maternally inherited symbiotic Wolbachia have been previously shown to have much greater densities in insecticide-resistant Culex pipiens mosquitoes than in insecticide-susceptible individuals. These high densities were shown to be at least partially responsible for the costs related to insecticide resistance in this species. We report here the rapid evolution, on the order of 50 generations, of bacterial densities both in laboratory and field populations. Along with other recently published studies, this report shows that Wolbachia–host interactions are very dynamic.

Mots clés: experimental evolution; insecticide resistance; bacterial density; endocellular bacteria; Wolbachia; Culex pipiens

Domaines: Biodiversité et Ecologie

Pierre Echaubard, Olivier Duron, P. Agnew, C. Sidobre, V. Noel, et al.. Rapid evolution of Wolbachia density in insecticide resistant Culex pipiens. Heredity, 2010, 104 (1), pp.15-19. ⟨10.1038/hdy.2009.100⟩. ⟨halsde-00567084⟩