Bacterial supergroup-specific "cost" of infections in .

The maternally inherited endosymbiont, , is known to alter the reproductive biology of its arthropod hosts for its own benefit and can induce both positive and negative fitness effects in many hosts. Here, we describe the effects of the maintenance of two distinct infections, one each from supergroups A and B, on the parasitoid host . We compare the effect of infections on various traits between the uninfected, single A-infected, single B-infected, and double-infected lines with their cured versions. Contrary to some previous reports, our results suggest that there is a significant cost associated with the maintenance of infections where traits such as family size, fecundity, longevity, and rates of male copulation are compromised in -infected lines. The double infection has the most detrimental impact on the host as compared to single infections. Moreover, there is a supergroup-specific negative impact on these wasps as the supergroup B infection elicits the most pronounced negative effects. These negative effects can be attributed to a higher titer seen in the double and the single supergroup B infection lines when compared to supergroup A. Our findings raise important questions on the mechanism of survival and maintenance of these reproductive parasites in arthropod hosts.