Meeting Abstract
Wolbachia is a bacterial infection that is found within many arthropod species including: fruit flies, mosquitos, and terrestrial isopods. The effects of Wolbachia within an individual host can change its reproduction in significant ways. For example, in the presence of Wolbachia, an infected male isopod may develop functioning female sex organs, which leads to its sex transformation; this phenomenon is called feminization. Although feminization is the most common effect of Wolbachia observed in terrestrial isopods, other possible effects from this bacteria include: cytoplasmic incompatibility, male-killing, and parthenogenesis. In order to understand the influence that Wolbachia has on its host, the prevalence of Wolbachia within the experimental population must be measured. Polymerase chain reaction is utilized in order to detect the presence of Wolbachia within distinct terrestrial isopod species. In this study, the focus is on the prevalence of Wolbachia infections in the species: Porcellio laevis, Porcellio scaber, and Trachelipus rathkei from multiple locations throughout the United States. The results confirming this bacterial infection within these nonlocal isopods will allow new crosses to be established and observed, in the hopes of determining the effects of Wolbachia infection on these host species.
