Distribution and molecular characterization of Wolbachia endosymbionts in odonata (insecta) from Central India by multigene approach

Wolbachia are maternally inherited bacterial endosymbionts of arthropods distributed among a wide range of hosts. It is now well known that they induce reproductive manipulations in their arthropod hosts by various phenotypic effects. The objective of the present study was to investigate Wolbachia infection among the insect order Odonata comprising 16 species from 5 families. Fifteen odonate species representing five families were found to harbour Wolbachia with the overall infection rate of 70%, out of which fourteen species are reported for the first time. According to multilocus sequence typing (MLST) data and phylogenetic analysis, all odonate Wolbachia species belong to supergroup F, except Trithemis pallindinervis, which belongs to supergroup B. MLST data reveal 20 new, highly similar STs (99.32 ± 0.34). We found a high rate of Wolbachia infection in Odonata of India, which indicates importance of this association. The characterization of these Wolbachia strains promises to lead to a deeper insight into this interaction, which is essential for further studies based on their phenotypic effects. The study suggests that all the characterized Wolbachia STs are totally new and arise as a result of point mutation.