| interspecific transmission of endosymbiotic spiroplasma by mites. | the occurrence of closely related strains of maternally transmitted endosymbionts in distantly related insect species indicates that these infections can colonize new host species by lateral transfer, although the mechanisms by which this occurs are unknown. we investigated whether ectoparasitic mites, which feed on insect haemolymph, can serve as interspecific vectors of spiroplasma poulsonii, a male-killing endosymbiont of drosophila. using spiroplasma-specific primers for pcr, we found that m ... | 2007 | 17443956 |
| spiroplasma poulsonii sp. nov., a new species associated with male-lethality in drosophila willistoni, a neotropical species of fruit fly. | progenies from some wild-caught females of drosophila willistoni and three other sibling species are entirely female. the proclivity for production of unisexual female progeny by these flies was named the sex ratio (sr) trait and was originally thought to be genetic. however, experiments in the laboratory of donald f. poulson in the early 1960s demonstrated that this 'trait' was vertically transmitted and infectious, in that it could be artificially transferred by injection from infected females ... | 1999 | 10319483 |