Recent Advances in Wolbachia and Spiroplasma Symbiosis

A special issue of Biology (ISSN 2079-7737).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2024 | Viewed by 5726

Special Issue Editors


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Entomology, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China
Interests: microbial ecology; plant-microbe interactions; microbial diversity and composition; endophytic fungal entomopathogens; biological control

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Guangdong Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510260, China
Interests: microbial ecology; biological control of insect pests; insect molecular biology; applied entomology; chemical ecology; integrated pest management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Entomology, Guizhou University, Guiyang, China
Interests: molecular taxonomy; insect ecology and evolution; biodiversity conservation; insecticide resistance; chemical and behavior ecology; integrated pest management; invasive species; gut microbiota diversity; gut microbiota composition

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

A good number of insect pests are known for harboring various bacterial symbionts. Herbivore-associated bacterial symbionts such as Wolbachia and Spiroplasma are widespread in diverse arthropods and mostly act as reproductive parasites. Both have been reported to significantly improve reproductive performance of various insects, including spider mites, aphids, Drosophila, etc. These insect-associated symbionts influence herbivore fitness, growth, and development, as well as interfere with plant defenses by changing plant physiology. Both Wolbachia and Spiroplasma are maternally inherited endosymbionts in arthropods and are able to co-exist and infect the same host. Understanding these complex interactions is very important for the development of an effective insect pest management program. We look forward to receiving your contributions to this Special Issue in the form of original research papers and review articles focusing on, but not limited to, the latest research on the occurrence, genetic diversity, and physiological functions of Wolbachia and/or Spiroplasma symbionts in various primary hosts. Although our focus will be on these two major facultative insect symbionts, articles reporting work carried out on other bacterial species are also welcome.

Dr. Bamisope Steve Bamisile
Dr. Mubasher Hussain
Dr. Junaid Ali Siddiqui
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Biology is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

 

Keywords

  • herbivore-associated bacterial symbionts
  • facultative endosymbionts
  • co-infection
  • cytoplasmic incompatibility
  • complex relationship
  • horizontal transmission
  • host-insects
  • physiological interactions
  • intracellular bacteria

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

Jump to: Review

14 pages, 3148 KiB  
Article
Climate and Wolbachia Impacts on Anoplolepis gracilipes (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)
by Yu-Jen Lin, Ching-Hong Yeh, Chen-Zhe Wu and Li-Hsin Wu
Biology 2023, 12(12), 1482; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology12121482 - 2 Dec 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1676
Abstract
The yellow crazy ant (Anoplolepis gracilipes (Smith, 1857)) is a prominent invasive species exhibiting variable population dynamics. Through collecting long-term climate data and validating field surveys with MaxEnt SDM projections, our results indicated that winter temperature and precipitation accumulation strongly influence the [...] Read more.
The yellow crazy ant (Anoplolepis gracilipes (Smith, 1857)) is a prominent invasive species exhibiting variable population dynamics. Through collecting long-term climate data and validating field surveys with MaxEnt SDM projections, our results indicated that winter temperature and precipitation accumulation strongly influence the population dynamics. An aggression analysis showed that A. gracilipes nests with higher aggression levels (over 2.5 scores) experienced a higher mean maximum temperature (31.84 ± 0.43 °C) and lower prevalence of wAgra (84.8 ± 4.70%) in A. gracilipes from June to October. The nest manipulation and aggression experiments confirmed that temperature increases aggression (1.3 to 2.8 scores) among A. gracilipes workers due to the reduced prevalence of wAgra. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of a notable reduction in the prevalence of Wolbachia (100 to 66%) within a colony of A. gracilipes while maintaining stable nests for further experiments. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Wolbachia and Spiroplasma Symbiosis)
Show Figures

Graphical abstract

Review

Jump to: Research

18 pages, 1148 KiB  
Review
Wolbachia Interactions with Diverse Insect Hosts: From Reproductive Modulations to Sustainable Pest Management Strategies
by Moazam Hyder, Abdul Mubeen Lodhi, Zhaohong Wang, Aslam Bukero, Jing Gao and Runqian Mao
Biology 2024, 13(3), 151; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology13030151 - 27 Feb 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3121
Abstract
Effective in a variety of insect orders, including dipteran, lepidopteran, and hemipteran, Wolbachia-based control tactics are investigated, noting the importance of sterile and incompatible insect techniques. Encouraging approaches for controlling Aedes mosquitoes are necessary, as demonstrated by the evaluation of a new [...] Read more.
Effective in a variety of insect orders, including dipteran, lepidopteran, and hemipteran, Wolbachia-based control tactics are investigated, noting the importance of sterile and incompatible insect techniques. Encouraging approaches for controlling Aedes mosquitoes are necessary, as demonstrated by the evaluation of a new SIT/IIT combination and the incorporation of SIT into Drosophila suzukii management. For example, Wolbachia may protect plants from rice pests, demonstrating its potential for agricultural biological vector management. Maternal transmission and cytoplasmic incompatibility dynamics are explored, while Wolbachia phenotypic impacts on mosquito and rice pest management are examined. The importance of host evolutionary distance is emphasised in recent scale insect research that addresses host-shifting. Using greater information, a suggested method for comprehending Wolbachia host variations in various contexts emphasises ecological connectivity. Endosymbionts passed on maternally in nematodes and arthropods, Wolbachia are widely distributed around the world and have evolved both mutualistic and parasitic traits. Wolbachia is positioned as a paradigm for microbial symbiosis due to advancements in multiomics, gene functional assays, and its effect on human health. The challenges and opportunities facing Wolbachia research include scale issues, ecological implications, ethical conundrums, and the possibility of customising strains through genetic engineering. It is thought that cooperative efforts are required to include Wolbachia-based therapies into pest management techniques while ensuring responsible and sustainable ways. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Wolbachia and Spiroplasma Symbiosis)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop