How do male-killers kill males only? This is one of the questions that frequently raised at seminars (along with ‘do they work on humans’ asked in the bar afterwards). It is interesting at a curiosity level, and also in terms of the effect of the bacteria on host evolution, and the potential utility of any bioactive compounds. The aspect of maleness with which they interact is likely to come under intense selection, and the bioactive compounds may be usable in pest control.
We try to answer these questions primarily working in Drosophila, where the tools to approach it are well developed by generations of previous workers who have established how male and female differ genetically and physiologically. We work on two male-killers, a male-killing Wolbachia, and a male-killing Spiroplasma. The former lives in Japanese Drosophila bifasciata; the latter in neotropical Drosophila, but also handily in D. melanogaster.
Currently, we are examining their interaction with host sex determination systems and the anatomy of male death. We are also extending our findings in Drosophila-male-killer host interactions to other systems, principally ladybirds, and plan also to work with Nasonia vitripennis.
Collaborators: Dr Henk Braig (Bangor); Dr Kostas Bourtzis (Ioannia, Greece), Dr Mike Majerus (Cambridge), Horacio Montenegro & Prof. Louis Klaczko (Campinas, Brazil), Prof Richard ffrench-Constant (Bath), Prof Jack Werren (Rochester).
Sponsors: BBSRC, NERC.
