Abstract
Zyginidia pullula is a grass-dwelling leafhopper characterized by a bisexual reproduction mode. In this
species, some females collected in Northern Italy, when mated with males, gave origin to an exclusively
female brood. Here, we demonstrated that in these lineages an infection by a new strain of Wolbachia
pipientis—designated as wZygpul—was detected by amplifying and sequencing the wsp and 16S rRNA
genes. About half of the female progeny were characterized by intersexual phenotypes, i.e. showing upper
pygofer appendages, a typical male secondary sexual feature. The karyological analysis proved that while
phenotypically normal females had a female genotype, those with upper pygofer appendages had a male
genotype and were thus feminized males.
The complete removal of W. pipientis after tetracycline treatment of morphologically normal females,
and the consequent re-appearance of males in the brood, permitted us to connect the feminizing effect with
the presence of the bacterium. This is the first case of feminization by W. pipientis in an XX/X0 sexdetermination
system, and is the second case reported in insects.
Lingua originale | English |
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pagine (da-a) | 2409-2416 |
Numero di pagine | 8 |
Rivista | PROCEEDINGS - ROYAL SOCIETY. BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES |
Volume | 273 |
DOI | |
Stato di pubblicazione | Pubblicato - 2006 |
Keywords
- 16S rRNA
- Wolbachia pipientis
- XX/X0 sex-determination system
- Zyginidia pullula
- feminization
- wsp