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  • Title: Morphostructural investigation of the female reproductive system and molecular evidence for Wolbachia in Balclutha brevis Lindberg 1954 (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae).
    Author: Pappalardo AM, D'Urso V, Viscuso R, Ferrito V, Giunta MC, Cupani S, Vitale DG.
    Journal: Micron; 2016 Feb; 81():23-33. PubMed ID: 26741364.
    Abstract:
    Balclutha brevis Lindberg 1954 (Homoptera, Cicadellidae) is an allochthonous species that is rapidly spreading in Sicily and in mainland Europe due to the wide spread of its host plant and therefore could also compete with populations of native species. Considering these ecological implications, based on the lacking ultrastructural data about the reproductive systems of the Auchenorrhyncha and since previous investigations on the male reproductive system of B. brevis have shown some interesting features, we carried out morphostructural investigations on the female reproductive system of this alien leafhopper. Moreover, given the high interest in literature on Wolbachia entomoparasite and based on our previous studies, we provided a contribution to further investigations in applied sciences. For this aim we performed a molecular analysis on males and females of B. brevis to detect the possible presence of strains of the bacterium known to alter host reproductive biology. The female reproductive system has a morphological organization comparable to the general anatomical features of most of the Auchenorrhyncha species; however, comparing our data with the literature, some considerations are discussed. As for the histological and ultrastructural investigations, our results show a secretory activity of the various examined structures. In the spermatheca of B. brevis, in particular, the secretory activity is more marked in the sac-shaped tract, where histochemical investigations showed a lipid component of the secretion; possible origin of this component is discussed. Moreover, mainly free spermatozoa are found in the sac-shaped tract of the spermatheca and in the common oviduct. As for the latter, an interesting findings is the lack of cuticular intima on the epithelial surface of the common oviduct; furthermore, the observed features and the literature in this regards led us to review the significance of the structure called as spermatheca. The molecular screening study (PCR) with three Wolbachia specific genes (16SrRNA, ftsZ,wsp) strongly supports Wolbachia infections in both males and females of the host species. This is the first study demonstrating the presence of Wolbachia in Balclutha genus, though no morphostructural alteration commonly related to the presence of the bacterium has been found in all the examined specimens.
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