Intracellular Symbiotic Bacteria of Camponotus textor, Forel (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)

Abstract

This study focuses on the weaver ant, Camponotus textor, Forel which occurs in some areas of the Brazilian Cerrado and Atlantic Forest, and its symbionts: Blochmannia, an obligate symbiont of Camponotus, and Wolbachia, known for causing reproductive alterations in their hosts. The main goal of this study was to investigate the presence, frequency of occurrence, and diversity of Wolbachia and Blochmannia strains in C. textor colonies. We found high infection rates (100%) and the occurrence of at least two distinct strains of Blochmannia (H_1 or H_7) in the same species. The observed haplotype variation within a single species may result from the high mutation rate of the symbiont. Similarly, the Wolbachia was found in all colonies with different rates of infections and a new strain (supergroup A) was deposited in the MLST database. The diversity found in the present study shows that there is still much to explore to understand about these symbiotic interactions.

Species-specific signatures of the microbiome from Camponotus and Colobopsis ants across developmental stages

“…Our study also found 44 samples of Camponotus planatus , from two colonies (MOR#69 and MOR#73), with two strains of Blochmannia (double infection). This result corroborates Ramalho et al [ 67 ] finding of double infections of Blochmannia in Camponotus textor Forel, an exclusively Neotropical species.…”

“…In Camponotini ants the presence of bacteria such as Blochmannia , considered a primary endosymbiont, and Wolbachia , as secondary, is already well known [ 21 , 22 , 37 , 67 ], but the diversity of the entire bacterial community has not been fully documented and differences across developmental stage have not been adequately explored. Although our study included a modest number of colonies (85 individual samples from four colonies) our results are the first to characterize the bacterial community associated with a colony of the recently recognized genus Colobopsis (species: Colobopsis riehlii ) and three colonies of Camponotus (two distinct species: Ca .…”

“…This low infection rate by Wolbachia (1%) has also been found in another North American Camponotus [ 14 ], although is not true across the genus as Ca . textor was found to be highly associated with Wolbachia [ 67 ].…”

First Insight into Microbiome Profiles of Myrmecophilous Beetles and Their Host, Red Wood Ant Formica polyctena (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)—A Case Study

“…The predominance of those two families has been directly connected with a high relative abundance of Wolbachia and Rickettsia endosymbionts. The former potentially infects more than 65% of insect species [94,95] and a wide range of ant genera, for example, Atta and Acromyrmex [96][97][98], Camponotus [99,100], Cephalotes [101,102], Colobopsis [103], Formica [104,105], Polyrhachis [49], Solenopsis [106][107][108], and others [109][110][111]. Wolbachia has been also identified with high relative abundance in bacterial communities associated with the myrmecophilous larvae of Maculinea alcon butterfly [71].…”

The Potential Role of Environment in Structuring the Microbiota of <i>Camponotus</i> across Parts of the Body

“…With a worldwide distribution, and commonly known as carpenter ants, Camponotus Mayr, 1861 is a well known genus for having symbiotic bacteria localized in specialized organs as bacteriocytes, found between the epithelial cells of the midgut and also in the ovary of the queens, which guarantees maternal (vertical) transmission of the endosymbiont [20] [21] [22] [23]. It is considered a hyper-diverse genus and has generalized feeding and nesting habits.…”