Wolbachia endosymbiont infection in two Indian butterflies and female-biased sex ratio in the Red Pierrot, Talicada nyseus.
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Date
2011-12
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Abstract
The maternally inherited obligate bacteria Wolbachia is known to infect various lepidopteran insects. However, so far
only a few butterfly species harbouring this bacterium have been thoroughly studied. The current study aims to
identify the infection status of these bacteria in some of the commonly found butterfly species in India. A total of
nine butterfly species belonging to four different families were screened using PCR with Wolbachia-specific wsp and
ftsZ primers. The presence of the Wolbachia super group ‘B’ in the butterflies Red Pierrot, Talicada nyseus (Guerin)
(Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) and Blue Mormon, Papilio polymnestor Cramer (Papilionidae), is documented for the first
time in India. The study also gives an account on the lifetime fecundity and female-biased sex ratio in T. nyseus,
suggesting a putative role for Wolbachia in the observed female-biased sex ratio distortion.
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Keywords
Wolbachia endosymbiont infection in two Indian butterflies, and female-biased sex ratio in the Red Pierrot, sex ratio, Talicada nyseus, Wolbachia
Citation
Ankola Kunal, Brueckner Dorothea, Puttaraju H P. Wolbachia endosymbiont infection in two Indian butterflies and female-biased sex ratio in the Red Pierrot, Talicada nyseus. Journal of Biosciences. 2011 Dec; 36 (5): 845-850.