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A Nuptially Transmitted Ichthyosporean Symbiont of Tenebrio molitor (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae)
Author(s) -
Lord Jeffrey C.,
Hartzer Kris L.,
Kambhampati Srinivas
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of eukaryotic microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.067
H-Index - 77
eISSN - 1550-7408
pISSN - 1066-5234
DOI - 10.1111/j.1550-7408.2012.00617.x
Subject(s) - biology , spermatophore , mealworm , spore , larva , zoology , insect , fat body , sperm , anatomy , mating , botany
The yellow mealworm, Tenebrio molitor , harbors a symbiont that has spores with a thick, laminated wall and infects the fat body and ventral nerve chord of adult and larval beetles. In adult males, there is heavy infection of the epithelial cells of the testes and between testes lobes with occasional penetration of the lobes. Spores are enveloped in the spermatophores when they are formed at the time of mating and transferred to the female's bursa copulatrix. Infection has not been found in the ovaries. The sequence of the nuclear small subunit rDNA indicates that the symbiont is a member of the Ichthyosporea, a class of protists near the animal–fungi divergence.