Journal of Applied Entomology (2011) 135, 546-553

A. Apostolaki, I. Livadaras, A. Saridaki, A. Chrysargyris, C. Savakis and K. Bourtzis (2011)
Transinfection of the olive fruit fly Bactrocera oleae with Wolbachia: towards a symbiont-based population control strategy
Journal of Applied Entomology 135 (7), 546-553
Abstract: The olive fruit fly Bactrocera oleae is responsible for worldwide economic damage. In this report, we describe the first B. oleae lines transinfected with the Wolbachia strain wCer2, an endosymbiont of the cherry fruit fly Rhagoletis cerasi. Immunostaining followed by confocal microscopy, detects high numbers of Wolbachia in embryos as well as in ovarioles and sperm from individuals of both transinfected lines. wCer2 was uniformly distributed in B. oleae egg chambers and the cortex of preblastoderm embryos. Wolbachia is known to manipulate host reproduction with several strategies, one of which is cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI), resulting in embryonic mortality in incompatible crosses. Wolbachia was found to induce complete CI in the novel host, suggesting that symbiont-based approaches can be used as novel environmentally friendly tools for the control of natural olive fruit fly populations.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Kostas Bourtzis

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
biocontrol - natural enemies
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
general biology - morphology - evolution
application technology

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Bactrocera oleae
Wolbachia (genus - entomopathogens)	Bactrocera oleae