Dynamics of Wolbachia Spread in Rhagoletis cerasi

All animal life depends on bacteria. A good example of such interactions are bacterial endosymbionts of insects, such as Wolbachia, a ubiquitous maternally inherited microorganism which often induces reproductive manipulations in hosts. Only very few examples exist to confidently assert how bacteria spread through populations. In this project we will test how a Wolbachia strain of the European cherry fruit fly spreads through populations. The dispersal capacity of this fly is very low, with only one generation per year and staying in close vicinity to its natal habitat. This Wolbachia strain induces death of the progeny when infected males mate with uninfected females. A unique transect between infected and uninfected populations has been described, with transitional populations showing a gradual increase of infected individuals from south to north. Analysing these transitional populations over ten years will reveal the mode of spread of this bacterium. This knowledge is important as these bacteria are used for pest control. Furthermore, we aim to analyse the genomes of the fly as well as the bacterium to detect interactions between these two organisms on the genome level.