Wolbachia Infections Confer Fitness Advantages
Wolbachia has been linked to viral resistance in Drosophila melanogaster and mosquito species. Flies infected with the bacteria are more resistant to RNA viruses such as Drosophila C virus, Nora virus, Flock house virus, Cricket paralysis virus, Chikungunya virus, and West Nile virus. In the common house mosquito, higher levels of Wolbachia density were correlated with more insecticide resistance. Another interesting interaction is seen in leafminers Phyllonorycter blancardella, where Wolbachia bacteria help their hosts produce green islands on yellowing tree leaves, which allow the hosts to continue feeding while growing to their adult forms. Larvae treated with tetracycline, which kills Wolbachia, lose this ability and subsequently only 13% emerge successfully as adult moths. Lastly, in the filarial nematode species Brugia malayi, Wolbachia has become an obligate endosymbiont and provides the host with chemicals necessary to its survival.
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