Climate predicts w Mel Wolbachia frequency variation in Drosophila melanogaster , but genomic variation reflects a recent incomplete cytoplasmic sweep
Abstract
Maternally transmitted Wolbachia occupy roughly half of terrestrial arthropod species, but the factors maintaining their variable population frequencies are poorly understood. In Drosophila melanogaster , the w Mel Wolbachia variant occurs at intermediate and variable frequencies globally. We document rapid w Mel frequency shifts up to 0.33 between consecutive weeks in experimental and natural orchards in the eastern United States, with frequencies peaking at intermediate temperatures and declining at thermal extremes. Seven years of seasonal sampling at a Pennsylvania orchard showed w Mel frequencies consistently higher in summer than fall, consistent with temperature-dependent maternal transmission. Bayesian models applied to 248 locations across five continents and 42 years of sampling corroborated the previously described w Mel frequency cline in eastern Australia but found no latitudinal pattern on any other continent. Precipitation seasonality and driest-quarter precipitation were the strongest global predictors, absorbing the among-continent w Mel frequency variation that latitude left unexplained. Wet-season temperature predicted w Mel frequency in Australia, where the wettest quarter coincides with summer and peak host reproduction. Analysis of 339 individually sequenced w Mel genomes identified 38 w Mel SNPs associated with latitude, but these associations did not persist after accounting for cytoplasmic lineage structure, and 35 of the 38 were private to a remnant…
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