Off-campus FIU users: To download campus-access content, please use the following link to log in to our proxy server with your FIU library username and password.

Non-FIU users: Please talk to your librarian about requesting this content through interlibrary loan.

Date of Award

Spring 4-13-2020

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science

Department

Biology

Abstract

Wolbachia pipientis is one of the most abundant endosymbionts carried by approximately half of all insect species as well as some filarial nematodes, mites, and crustaceans. Because Wolbachia are pervasive in nature, studies that gain insight into the molecular and cellular basis for Wolbachia infection will provide significant insight into endosymbiosis generally. Furthermore, because Wolbachia infection has been demonstrated to suppress transmission of viral pathogens like Dengue and Zika by Aedes mosquitoes, there are practical implications for understanding mechanisms that regulate Wolbachia infection. The absolute number of Wolbachia carried by host germline cells relies upon vertical inheritance from stem cells, horizontal invasion of Wolbachia into cysts, and binary fission within the germ cells. However, little is currently known about how Wolbachia is controlled within host somatic tissue, nor how much binary fission contributes to the ultimate number of Wolbachia per insect. The aim of this research is to establish the replication rate of Wolbachia within naturally infected Drosophila models. Here I present qPCR data measuring Wolbachia dynamics through the host life cycle. I expect this research to be among the first to examine Wolbachia infection dynamics within both the male and female host throughout the entire life cycle, providing greater insight into our collective understanding of Wolbachia-host interactions.

Share

COinS
 

Rights Statement

Rights Statement

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).