Micoletzkya
| Micoletzkya | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| Phylum: | |
| Class: | |
| Family: | Diplogastridae
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| Genus: | Micoletzkya Weingärtner 1955
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Micoletzkya is a genus of predatory bark-beetle-associated nematodes in the family Diplogastridae.[1][2] As of 2013 it consist of 25 described nominal species.[3]
Ecology and life history
Nematodes of Micoletzkya live in symbiosis with bark beetles.[4] The hosts include economically important species across North America and Europe such as the mountain pine beetle Dendroctonus ponderosae and european spruce bark beetle Ips typographus.[4][5][6] The life history of the nematodes is closely linked to that of their hosts. Infective (dauer) larvae of Micoletzkya locate onto the body surface of a beetle for transmission, and resume their development in breeding galleries of a host. In the bark beetle galleries, nematodes have a few free-living generations, presumably feeding on beetle-associated microorganisms and other nematodes, after which dauer larvae develop and attach to newly emerging bark beetles for transmission.[4]
Host specificity and speciation
Micoletzkya nematodes are remarkably host specific, with most of the species found in association with only a single host species each. Nematodes of the genus are vertically transmitted within population of hosts, which fosters cospeciation with bark beetles as well as adaptation to particular groups of hosts. Phylogenetic evidence suggest that diversification of the genus was largely influenced by radiation of bark beetles.[6]
Mouth dimorphism
Like many other members of diplogastrid family, Micoletzkya nematodes have movable teeth and show mouth dimorphism, whereby dimorphic species of the genus can express two alternative mouth phenotypes: stenostomatous (narrow mouth and small teeth) and euristomatous (wide mouth and large teeth). The two alternative phenotypes are thought to represent resource polyphenism, and be specialized for feeding on different food, such as microorganisms and other nematodes respectively.
Isolation and culturing
Adult Micoletzkya nematodes can be found in breeding galleries of bark beetles; dauer juveniles can be isolated from dispersing beetles. Micoletzkia species can be cultured using C. elegans and other nematodes as food; many species can be cultured on bacteria. Generation time of Micoletzkya takes about 10 days.[3]
References
- ^ Sudhaus, W. & von Lieven, A.F. 2003. A phylogenetic classification and catalogue of the Diplogastridae (Secernentea, Nematoda). J. Nematode Morphol. System. 6: 43–89.
- ^ Mayer, W.E., Herrmann, M. & Sommer, R.J. 2009. Molecular phylogeny of beetle associated diplogastrid nematodes suggests host switching rather than nematode-beetle coevolution. BMC Evol. Biol. 9: 212.
- ^ a b Susoy, Vladislav; Kanzaki, Natsumi & Herrmann, Matthias. 2013. Description of the bark beetle associated nematodes Micoletzkya masseyi n. sp and M. japonica n. sp (Nematoda: Diplogastridae). Nematology 15: 213–231.
- ^ a b c Rühm, W. 1956. Die Nematoden der Ipiden. Parasitologische Schriftenreihe No. 6: 1–437.
- ^ Massey, C.L. 1974. Biology and taxonomy of nematode parasites and associates of bark beetles in the United States. Agriculture Handb U S Dep Agric No. 446: 1–233.
- ^ a b Susoy, V. & Herrmann, M. (2014). Preferential host switching and codivergence shaped radiation of bark beetle symbionts, nematodes of Micoletzkya (Nematoda: Diplogastridae). Journal of evolutionary biology 27 (5), 889-898