A5082367958- Plant and animal studies
- Insect symbiosis and bacterial influences
- Insect and Pesticide Research
- Insect and Arachnid Ecology and Behavior
- Insect-Plant Interactions and Control
- Lepidoptera: Biology and Taxonomy
- Plant Parasitism and Resistance
- Parasitic Diseases Research and Treatment
- Physiological and biochemical adaptations
- Entomopathogenic Microorganisms in Pest Control
- Fossil Insects in Amber
- Nematode management and characterization studies
- Mosquito-borne diseases and control
- Hymenoptera taxonomy and phylogeny
- Insect behavior and control techniques
- Animal Behavior and Reproduction
- Reproductive biology and impacts on aquatic species
- Plant and Fungal Interactions Research
- Plant and Fungal Species Descriptions
University of Guelph
2010-2016
University of Rochester
2006-2010
Western Michigan University
2002-2004
Wolbachia is a genus of bacterial endosymbionts that impacts the breeding systems their hosts. can confuse patterns mitochondrial variation, including DNA barcodes, because it influences pathways through which mitochondria are inherited. We examined extent to these detected in routine barcoding, assessed impact upon insect sequence divergence and identification accuracy, considered variation present COI. Using both standard PCR assays (Wolbachia surface coding protein – wsp), COI fragments...
Abstract The pandemic distribution of Wolbachia (alpha‐proteobacteria) across arthropods is largely due to the ability these maternally inherited endosymbionts successfully shift hosts species boundaries. Yet it remains unclear whether has preferential routes transfer among species. Here, we examined populations eight North American funnel‐web spider genus Agelenopsis evaluate show evidence for host specificity and relative contribution horizontal vs. vertical transmission strains within...
Wolbachia are the most prevalent and influential bacteria described among insects to date. But despite their significance, we lack an understanding of evolutionary histories. To describe evolution symbioses between hosts, surveyed global collections two diverse families insects, ants lycaenid butterflies. In total, 54 isolates were typed using a Multi Locus Sequence Typing (MLST) approach, in which five unlinked loci sequenced analyzed decipher patterns. AMOVA phylogenetic analyses...
Wolbachia infect a variety of arthropod and nematode hosts, but in arthropods, host phylogenetic relationships are usually poor predictors strain similarity. This suggests that new infections often established by horizontal transmission. To gain insight into the factors affecting probability transmission among species, we ask how phylogeny, geographical distribution ecology affect patterns We used multilocus sequence typing (MLST) to characterize similarity dipteran hosts associated with...
It has become a matter of orthodoxy that among wasps, ants, bees, and other insects in the order Hymenoptera, only uniparental haploid males arise from unfertilized eggs are capable reproduction. This idea is interest because best understood perhaps most widespread sex determination system these [known as single locus complementary (sl-CSD)] does not depend on ploidy alone and, paradoxically, consistently results small numbers diploid biparental males. To date, reproductive potential been...
Insect diversity typically declines with increasing latitude, but previous studies have shown conflicting latitude-richness gradients for some hymenopteran parasitoids. However, historical estimates of insect and species richness can be difficult to confirm or compare, because they may based upon dissimilar methods. As a proxy identification, we used DNA barcoding identify molecular operational taxonomic units (MOTUs) 7870 Hymenoptera specimens collected near Churchill, Manitoba, from 2004...
Abstract The ‘Symphyta’ is a paraphyletic assemblage at the base of order Hymenoptera, comprising 14 families and about 8750 species. All have phytophagous larvae, except for Orussidae, which are parasitoids. This study presents evaluates results DNA barcoding approximately 5360 specimens ‘Symphyta’, mainly adults, 4362 sequences covering 1037 species were deemed suitable quality inclusion in analysis. extant represented, Anaxyelidae. majority from Europe, but 38% 13% non‐European origin....
Interspecific mutualism can evolve when specific lineages of different species tend to be associated with each other from one generation the next. Different maternally transmitted endosymbionts occurring within same cytoplasmic lineage fulfil this requirement. Drosophila neotestacea is infected Wolbachia and Spiroplasma, which are cotransmitted at high frequency in natural populations. Molecular phylogenetic evidence indicates that both have been present D. for considerable evolutionary...
Outer membrane proteins (OMPs) of Gram-negative bacteria are key players in the biology bacterial-host interactions. However, while considerable attention has been given to OMPs vertebrate pathogens, relatively little is known about role these that primarily infect invertebrates. One such OMP found intracellular Wolbachia, which widespread symbionts arthropods and filarial nematodes. Recent experimental studies have shown Wolbachia surface protein (WSP) can trigger host immune responses...
A study of male genitalia, morphometric head measurements and DNA barcoding revealed three overlooked species in eastern Nearctic Polistes (Fuscopolistes), two which are described here: P. (F.) hirsuticornis Buck, sp. nov. parametricus carolina authors is a complex or species. Type studies also uncovered new synonymies: rubiginosus Lepeletier, 1836, restit. (=P. perplexus Cresson, 1872, syn. nov.; generosus nov.); nigripennis (De Geer, 1773) removed from synonymy with (Linnaeus, 1767)...
Abstract The solitary wasp Euodynerus foraminatus has single‐locus complementary sex determination (sl‐CSD), which is normally incompatible with inbreeding because it increases the production of sterile or inviable diploid males. Previous field observations E. have suggested that high levels sibling mating are present in this species. However, conclusions about and its genetic consequences could be flawed if based solely upon behavioural observations. Through microsatellite DNA genotyping...
Abstract In a recent Perspective, Gerth et al. (2011) expressed concern over how Wolbachia (Wolbachia pipientis Hertig) infections may affect the success of DNA barcoding efforts in bees. The potential and realized effects endosymbiont-induced selective sweeps on host mitochondrial diversity have been noted repeatedly – rightly so literature for some years. However, we are equally concerned with other misconceptions, including (a) presuming that positive test indicates stable infection, (b)...
Abstract We have identified five polymorphic microsatellite loci for the solitary wasp Euodynerus foraminatus , using a partial genomic library constructed from random amplified DNA fragments. detected between three and 13 alleles per locus in sample of 30 female wasps collected southwest Michigan, USA. Observed heterozygosities ranged 0.2 to 0.73. These markers will be used our ongoing studies sex determination naturally occurring inbreeding this species.