Search

Although Wolbachia spp. are described as one of the most prevalent groups of endosymbiotic intracellular bacteria in invertebrates, studies often found large variations in Wolbachia infection rate at the species level. The underlying mechanisms of these variations however remain unclear. Given some phenotypic effects of Wolbachia such as cytoplasmic incompatibility and difficulties to be transmitted among host populations with deep genetic divergence, we hypothesized that cryptic species could play an important role in the spreading success of Wolbachia. Here we used Wiebesia pumilae, the morphospecies specifically pollinating Ficus pumila to test our hypothesis. We collected individuals from 40 locations covering most of its distribution range in China. Using a mtDNA gene, we suggested a total of three cryptic species in W. pumilae with a parapatric distribution pattern. At the morphospecies level, we detected an overall Wolbachia infection rate of 52.8%. In contrast, at the cryptic species level, we found that all infected individuals belonged to only one cryptic species. These results support our hypothesis and indicate that cryptic species boundaries can create a hierarchical Wolbachia infection pattern and the potential role of Wolbachia infection in restricting gene flow among cryptic species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Syringodium isoetifolium (noodle seagrass) is a dioecious perennial seagrass. In this study, the complete chloroplast genome of S. isoetifolium was successfully characterized through next-generation sequencing technology. The cp genome was 159,333 bp in length with a GC content of 35.9%, including LSC (89,055 bp), SSC (19,160 bp), and two IRs (25,559 bp). The genome encoded 131 function genes, including 86 protein-coding genes, 37 tRNA genes, and eight rRNA genes. The phylogenetic analysis indicated that S. isoetifolium was clustered with Zostera and Ruppia ., Competing Interests: No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s)., (© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.)