Wolbachia Symbiotic Bacteria

Symbiosis is any close and prolonged physical interaction between organisms of two different species, like the mutualistic interaction between a clownfish and sea anemone. Another example would be a bacterium and its host. Bacteria present inside organisms play a role in the bodily processes of its host. Over the years, we learn more on just how much symbiotic bacteria, living in a host, can affect the bodily systems and overall development of its host. Élio Sucena, Luis Teixeira and a group of researchers further explore this symbiotic interaction, and how the interaction between a host and bacteria impact the evolutionary processes of both, in a study done on fruit flies.
Evolution is the genetic change—the change in the frequency of the genes present—in a population overtime. Coevolution is when two or more species reciprocally affect each other’s evolution. In this study, experimental evolution was done on chosen populations of fruit flies and its symbiotic bacterium, the Wolbachia, when exposed to a virus. Wolbachia are bacteria that inhabit insect cells, like the fruit flies, and are transmitted …show more content…
The fruit fly (the host) and the symbiotic bacterium coevolved in reaction to the presence of the viral pathogen. Considering this study about the coevolution of a host and its symbiotic bacterium, it can be inferred that future studies examining host and viral pathogenic interactions may have to take into account the already present symbiotic bacterium in the host to gain more understanding of the antiviral defensive processes that occur within the host. This is so because similar interactions and responses could be seen in other organisms in which host adaptation can result in a genetic change in bacteria living inside them, to which may benefit or be detrimental to the