The microbiome of Folsomia candida: an assessment of bacterial diversity in a Wolbachia-containing animal.

The springtail Folsomia candida is an important model organism for soil ecology, ecotoxicology and ecogenomics. The decomposer activities of soil invertebrates like Folsomia depend on their relationship with microbial communities including gut symbionts. In this paper, we apply high-throughput sequencing to provide a detailed characterization of the bacterial community associated with parthenogenetic F. candida. First, we evaluated a method to suppress the amplification of DNA from the endosymbiont Wolbachia, to prevent it from interfering with the identification of less abundant operational taxonomic units (OTUs). The suppression treatment applied was effective against Wolbachia and did not interfere with the detection of the most abundant OTUs (59 OTUs, contributing over 87% of the reads). However, this method did affect the inferred community composition. Significant differences were subsequently observed in the composition of bacterial communities associated with two different strains of F. candida. A total of 832 OTUs were found, of which 45% were only present in one strain and 17% only in the other. Among the 20 most abundant OTUs, 16 were shared between strains. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and clone libraries, although unable to capture the full diversity of the bacterial community, provided results that supported the NGS data.

Bad guys turned nice? A critical assessment of Wolbachia mutualisms in arthropod hosts.

Wolbachia are the most abundant bacterial endosymbionts among arthropods. Although maternally inherited, they do not conform to the widespread view that vertical transmission inevitably selects for beneficial symbionts. Instead, Wolbachia are notorious for their reproductive parasitism which, although lowering host fitness, ensures their spread. However, even for reproductive parasites it can pay to enhance host fitness. Indeed, there is a recent upsurge of reports on Wolbachia-associated fitness benefits. Therefore, the question arises how such instances of mutualism are related to the phenotypes of reproductive parasitism. Here, we review the evidence of Wolbachia mutualisms in arthropods, including both facultative and obligate relationships, and critically assess their biological relevance. Although many studies report anti-pathogenic effects of Wolbachia, few actually prove these effects to be relevant to field conditions. We further show that Wolbachia frequently have beneficial and detrimental effects at the same time, and that reproductive manipulations and obligate mutualisms may share common mechanisms. These findings undermine the idea of a clear-cut distinction between Wolbachia mutualism and parasitism. In general, both facultative and obligate mutualisms can have a strong, and sometimes unforeseen, impact on the ecology and evolution of Wolbachia and their arthropod hosts. Acknowledging this mutualistic potential might be the key to a better understanding of some unresolved issues in the study of Wolbachia-host interactions.

Seasonal activity of millipedes (Diplopoda)--their economic and medical significance.

The millipede Brachydesmus superus Latzel, Polydesmus inconstans Latzel (Diplopoda: Polydesmida) and Kryphioiulus occultus C. L. Koch (Diplopoda: Julida) were collected from compost in gardens in Lublin, eastern Poland. Collections were made by using pitfall traps between April - September 2009 and 2010. Brachydesmus superus, Polydesmus inconstans and Kryphioiulus occultus play a significant role in composting of plant residues. Cylindroiulus caeruleocinctus Wood and Ommatoiulus sabulosus Linnaeus (Diplopoda: Julida) were collected manually in 2009-2011 in fallows and ruderals of Lublin and Kraków. C. caeruleocinctus and O. sabulosus caused considerable nuisance during mass occurrence and migration in human residences. The sex ratio has been determined for populations of C. caeruleocinctus, total sex ratio average 1:1.46. The number of females prevailed. Millipedes of the temperate climate have two peaks in the spring and autumn pattern of activity of the year. Both common species C. caeruleocinctus and O. sabulosus were analysed bacteriologically. The millipede Cylindroiulus caeruleocinctus transmits Citrobacter freundii, Pantoea agglomerans, Serratia marcescens, Raoultella planticola, Salmonella arizonae. The millipede Ommatoiulus sabulosus transmits Citrobacter freundii, Pantoea agglomerans, Raoultella planticola and Xanthomonas maltophila.

Wolbachia detection: an assessment of standard PCR protocols.

Wolbachia is a large monophyletic genus of intracellular bacteria, traditionally detected using PCR assays. Its considerable phylogenetic diversity and impact on arthropods and nematodes make it urgent to assess the efficiency of these screening protocols. The sensitivity and range of commonly used PCR primers and of a new set of 16S primers were evaluated on a wide range of hosts and Wolbachia strains. We show that certain primer sets are significantly more efficient than others but that no single protocol can ensure the specific detection of all known Wolbachia infections.

Whole genome-based assessment of the taxonomic position of the arthropod pathogenic bacterium Rickettsiella grylli.

Rickettsiella grylli is an intracellular bacterial pathogen of aquatic and terrestrial arthropods. Previous determination of its 16S rRNA-encoding sequence has led to the taxonomic classification of the genus Rickettsiella in the class Gammaproteobacteria, order Legionellales, family Coxiellaceae, i.e. in close vicinity to vertebrate pathogenic bacteria of the genera Coxiella and Legionella. Here we use the additional information available from the recently published first whole genome sequence from this genus to evaluate critically the taxonomic classification of R. grylli beyond the 16S rRNA gene level. Using phylogenetic reconstruction, together with significance testing on a data basis defined by a core set of 211 previously identified families of protein-encoding genes, together with a reanalysis of 16S rRNA gene data, the present study firmly corroborates the assignment of this species to both the class Gammaproteobacteria and the order Legionellales. However, the results obtained from concatenated and single protein, single protein-encoding gene, and 16S rRNA gene data demonstrate a similar phylogenetic distance of R. grylli to both the Coxiellaceae and the Legionellaceae and are, therefore, inconsistent with its current family-level classification. Consequently, a respective reorganization of the order Legionellales is proposed.