AI Article Synopsis
- The NSRO spiroplasma strain causes a significant female-biased sex ratio in Drosophila melanogaster due to selective male embryo death, while a variant strain, NSRO-A, does not affect sex ratio.
- Researchers used quantitative PCR to study the infection densities of these spiroplasmas in various tissues during the aging of the host.
- Findings indicated that NSRO predominantly colonizes and grows in the host's hemolymph, with infection levels higher than those of NSRO-A, potentially explaining the different reproductive effects.
Article Abstract
The male-killing spiroplasma strain NSRO causes an extremely female-biased sex ratio of the host, Drosophila melanogaster, as a result of selective death of male offspring during embryogenesis. The spiroplasma strain NSRO-A, a variant of NSRO, does not cause such symptoms. In an attempt to gain insights into the mechanism underlying the symbiont-induced reproductive phenotype, infection densities of the spiroplasmas in different tissues were monitored during host aging using a quantitative PCR technique. The density dynamics in the hemolymph were reminiscent of those in the whole body, whereas the density dynamics in the fat body, intestine and ovary were not. These results suggest that the majority of the spiroplasmas colonize and proliferate in the hemolymph of the host. In the hemolymph and whole body, the infection densities of NSRO were generally higher than those of NSRO-A, which may be related to the different reproductive phenotypes caused by the spiroplasmas.
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| http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1574-6941.2006.00087.x | DOI Listing |
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