NOVEL SUPERGROUP U WOLBACHIA IN BAT MITES OF THAILAND

Phanthip Olanratmanee1 , Visut Baimai2 , Arunee Ahantarig2,3 and Wachareeporn Trinachartvanit2

Abstract

Wolbachia is an endosymbiont infecting mostly arthropods and is vertically transmitted to its host offspring; however, Wolbachia in mites has rarely been reported. We have discovered, for the first time, Wolbachia endosymbiont in Spinturnix mite infesting thick-thumbed myotis bat (Myotis rosseti) in Thailand. Wolbachia spp were detected in Spinturnix spp by PCR employing species-specific 16S rDNA and ftsZ primers. Consensus sequences were then used to construct phylogenetic trees, which indicated Spinturnix mite Wolbachia spp belonged to a clade separate from existing species, which we named Wolbachia Supergroup U. The role of Wolbachia spp in Spinturnix mites remains to be determined.