Background: Dispersal plays a key role in shaping biological and ecological processes such as the distribution of spatially-structured populations or the pace and scale of invasion. Here we have studied the relationship between long-distance dispersal behaviour of a pest-controlling money spider, Erigone atra, and the distribution of maternally acquired endosymbionts within the wider meta-population. This spider persists in heterogeneous environments because of its ability to recolonise areas through active long-distance airborne dispersal using silk as a sail, in a process termed 'ballooning'.
Results: We show that there is spatial heterogeneity in the prevalence of two maternally acquired endosymbiont infections within the wider E. atra meta-population and we demonstrate through several independent approaches a link between the presence of one of these endosymbionts, Rickettsia, and the tendency for long-distance movement.
Conclusion: This novel finding that particular endosymbionts can influence host dispersal is of broad importance given the extremely widespread occurrence of similar bacteria within arthropod communities. A bacterial phenotype that limits dispersal has the potential not only to reduce gene flow and thus contribute to degrees of reproductive isolation within species, but also to influence species distribution and thus overall community composition.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2706808 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1741-7007-7-32 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Genetic diversity and population structure of Oncomelania hupensis in Sichuan Province, China:implications for schistosomiasis control.
Int J Parasitol
January 2025
Department of Parasitic Diseases, Sichuan Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, China. Electronic address:
Schistosomiasis, caused by the infection with Schistosoma japonicum, remains a significant public health concern in China. As the sole intermediate host of S. japonicum, the breeding and spread of Oncomelania hupensis contribute significantly to the potential risk of disease occurrence and transmission.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPhylogenomics, reticulation, and biogeographical history of Elaeagnaceae.
Plant Divers
November 2024
Germplasm Bank of Wild Species & Yunnan Key Laboratory of Crop Wild Relatives Omics, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650201, China.
The angiosperm family Elaeagnaceae comprises three genera and . 100 species distributed mainly in Eurasia and North America. Little family-wide phylogenetic and biogeographic research on Elaeagnaceae has been conducted, limiting the application and preservation of natural genetic resources.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiome conservatism prevailed in repeated long-distance colonization of Madagascar's mountains by Helichrysum (Compositae, Gnaphalieae).
Mol Phylogenet Evol
January 2025
Systematics and Evolution of Vascular Plants (UAB), Associated Unit to CSIC by IBB, Departament de Biologia Animal, Biologia Vegetal i Ecologia, Facultat de Biociències, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain.
Colonization and diversification processes are responsible for the distinctiveness of island biotas, with Madagascar standing out as abiodiversity hotspot exceptionally rich in species and endemism. Regardless of its significance, the evolutionary history and diversification drivers of Madagascar's flora remain understudied. Here we focus on Helichrysum (Compositae, Gnaphalieae) to investigate the evolutionary and biogeographic origins of the Malagasy flora.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUncharted territory: the arrival of (Zetterstedt, 1850) (Diptera: Psychodidae) in Maritime Antarctica.
Front Insect Sci
December 2024
Millennium Institute Biodiversity of Antarctic and Sub-Antarctic Ecosystems (BASE), Santiago, Chile.
Despite increasing awareness of the threats they pose, exotic species continue to arrive in Antarctica with anthropogenic assistance, some of which inevitably have the potential to become aggressively invasive. Here, we provide the first report of the globally cosmopolitan species (Diptera, Psychodidae; commonly known as moth flies) in Antarctica during the austral summer of 2021/2022, with the identification confirmed using traditional taxonomic and molecular approaches. The species was present in very large numbers and, although predominantly associated with the drainage and wastewater systems of Antarctic national operator stations in synanthropic situations, it was also present in surrounding natural habitats.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHost dispersal relaxes selective pressures in rafting microbiomes and triggers successional changes.
Nat Commun
December 2024
Department of Marine Science, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
What little we know about how microbiomes change over the course of host dispersal has been gleaned from simulations or snapshot sampling of microbiomes of hosts undertaking regular, cyclical migrations. These studies suggest that major changes in both microbiome richness and turnover occur in response to long-distance movements, but we do not yet know how rare or sporadic dispersal events for non-migratory organisms might affect the microbiomes of their hosts. Here we directly examine the microbiomes of rafting seaweed, leveraging host genomic analyses, amplicon sequencing, and oceanographic modelling to study the impacts of ecological dispersal of hosts on their microbiomes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!