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WOLBACHIA INFECTION IN ANTS OF NORTH GEORGIA**

Abstract

Ants are key players in terrestrial ecosystems, turning over immense amounts of soil, redistributing fungal spores and bacteria, and providing a food source for numerous other species. Because of their abundance, ants exhibit numerous microbe-associated interactions that blur the lines between mutualism, parasitism, and commensalism. A notable interaction occurs with Wolbachia, an obligate intracellular symbiont that is the most prevalent symbiotic microbe in the animal world. Facilitated by a highly mobile genome shuffled by both bacteriophages and transposons, Wolbachia has been found to affect host pesticide resistance, fecundity, immune responses, offspring sex ratios, and sexual differentiation. This study analyzes the infection prevalence of ant species occupying both urban and rural environments and is the first to do so in North Georgia. Wolbachia presence was identified through PCR amplification of the Wolbachia 16S rRNA gene, followed by gel electrophoresis. So far, Wolbachia has been detected in three of five ant species analyzed (60%). Notably, workers of Formica exsectoides, Camponotus pennsylvanicus, and a native army ant species, Neivamyrmex carolinensis, have been found to be infected. Species-specific infection rates are 83.3% for F. exsectoides, and 100% for both C. pennsylvanicus and N. carolinensis. Interestingly, literature has found a closely related Formica species, Formica exsecta, to be heavily infected with Wolbachia, with different strains coinhabiting a single host. Future work will involve sequencing Wolbachia amplicons to identify specific strains. The relevance of this study is underscored by both Wolbachia's prevalence and its evolutionary relatedness to pathogenic bacteria of the Rickettsiales order.

Acknowledgements

The Wolbachia Project

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