Data from: Wolbachia feminises a spider host with assistance from co-infecting symbionts
Data files
Aug 14, 2025 version files 37.73 KB
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dPCR.csv
26.14 KB
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README.md
7.28 KB
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Sex_ratio1.csv
3.25 KB
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Sex_ratio2.csv
1.06 KB
Abstract
Arthropods commonly harbor maternally-transmitted bacterial symbionts that manipulate host biology. Multiple heritable symbionts can co-infect the same individual, allowing these host-restricted bacteria to engage in cooperation or conflict, which can ultimately affect host phenotype. The spider Mermessus fradeorum is variably infected with up to five heritable symbionts: Rickettsiella (R), Tisiphia (T), and three strains of Wolbachia (W1-3). Quintuply infected spiders are feminized, causing genetic males to develop as phenotypic females and produce almost exclusively female offspring. We compared feminization rates (proportion of female offspring out of total) across nine infection combinations. We also compared feminization rates across a subset of three infection types (Uninfected, RTW1, and RTW123) in a second iteration of the experiment to validate coinfection effects on feminization strength observed in the first iteration of the feminization experiment. In both experiments we found that the Wolbachia strain W1 was required for feminization and this phenotype was strongest in quintuply infected spiders, implying a synergistic effect of coinfection on W1 feminization. Using digital PCR (dPCR), we estimated the amount of symbionts in different infection combinations to determine if a) symbiont titer changes across coinfections, and b) if W1 titer correlates with feminization strength. We extraction the DNA of adult females from the first feminization experiment and use species specific dPCR primers to analyze titer. We found limited changes in symbiont titer in different symbiont co-infections, suggestive of subtle effects of co-infection on the composition of the symbiont community. The synergistic effect of co-infection on Wolbachia feminization may help promote the spread of all five symbionts in spider populations. These results confirm the first instance of Wolbachia-induced feminization in spiders and demonstrate that co-infecting symbionts can improve the efficacy of symbiont-induced feminization.
Dataset DOI: 10.5061/dryad.f4qrfj77b
Description of the data and file structure
This README file was generated on 2025-06-11 by Matthew Doremus.
GENERAL INFORMATION
1. Title of Dataset: Wolbachia feminises its spider host with assistance from co-infecting symbionts
2. Author Information
A. Principal Contact Information
Name: Matthew Doremus
Institution: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Address: Urbana, IL USA
Email: mdoremus@illinois.edu
B. Co-investigator Contact Information
Name: Jen White
Institution: University of Kentucky
Address: Lexington, KY USA
Email: jenawhite@uky.edu
C. Co-investigator Contact Information
Name: Yuval Gottlieb
Institution: Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Address: Rehovot, Israel
Email: gottlieb.yuval@mail.huji.ac.il
3. Date of data collection (single date, range, approximate date): 2022-24
4. Geographic location of data collection: Lexington, KY, USA (sex ratio experiments), Rehovot, Israel (digital PCR)
5. Information about funding sources that supported the collection of the data: National Science Foundation (NSF) 1953223; Bi-national USA-Israel, Science Foundation (BSR) 201697; National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA-NIFA) under Hatch 1020740 and 7007679; USDA-NIFA Fellowship 2023-67012-39352; Israel Science Foundation (ISF) 2809/23
Foundation
SHARING/ACCESS INFORMATION
1. Licenses/restrictions placed on the data:
2. Links to publications that cite or use the data:
https://doi-org.proxy2.library.illinois.edu/10.1111/1462-2920.70149
3. Links to other publicly accessible locations of the data: None
4. Links/relationships to ancillary data sets: None
5. Was data derived from another source? No
A. If yes, list source(s): NA
6. Recommended citation for this dataset:
Mackevicius-Dubickaja, V., Y. Gottlieb, J. A. White, and M. R. Doremus. 2025. “ Wolbachia Feminises a Spider Host With Assistance From Co-Infecting Symbionts.” Environmental Microbiology 27, no. 7: e70149. https://doi-org.proxy2.library.illinois.edu/10.1111/1462-2920.70149.
Files and variables
1. File List:
A) Sex_ratio1.csv
B) Sex_ratio2.csv
C) dPCR.csv
2. Relationship between files, if important: Spider samples used in dPCR were the same females used in Sex_ratio1.csv. These samples share the same IDs in both experiments. Sex_ratio1.csv and Sex_ratio2.csv correspond with two independent experiments testing whether different symbiont combinations feminize their spider host.
3. Additional related data collected that was not included in the current data package: None
4. Are there multiple versions of the dataset? No
A. If yes, name of file(s) that was updated: NA
i. Why was the file updated? NA
ii. When was the file updated? NA
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DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: Sex_ratio1.csv
1. Number of variables: 5
2. Number of cases/rows: 116
3. Variable List:
- Female_ID: Code unique to each spider sample comrised of Infection (see below)+Replicate.
- Female_Infection: Symbionts present in spider. U = uninfected (no symbiont), R = Rickettsiella (+), T = Tisiphia (+), W = Wolbachia (+). Spiders can have up to 3 strains of Wolbachia, strains are denoted by number (W1 = Wolbachia strain 1)
- Female_Offspring: number of females that spider produced in their brood
- Male_Offspring: number of males that spider produced in their brood
- Total_Offspring: total number of offspring that spider produced in their brood
- SR: sex ratio (Female_Offspring/Total_Offspring)
4. Missing data codes: None
5. Specialized formats or other abbreviations used: None
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DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: Sex_ratio2.csv
1. Number of variables: 5
2. Number of cases/rows: 37
3. Variable List:
- Female_ID: Female_ID: Code unique to each spider sample comrised of Infection (see below)+Replicate.
- Female_Infection: Symbionts present in spider. CC = uninfected (no symbiont), 3C = RTW1 (triple infection), 5C = RTW123 (quintuple infection)
- Female_Offspring: number of females that spider produced in their brood
- Male_Offspring: number of males that spider produced in their brood
- Total_Offspring: total number of offspring that spider produced in their brood
- SR: sex ratio (Female_Offspring/Total_Offspring)
4. Missing data codes: NA (data not available)
5. Specialized formats or other abbreviations used: None
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DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: dPCR.csv
Digital PCR (dPCR) was used to estimate the amount of symbionts cells in each female spider that laid egg masses. Spiders were collected from the same experiment as Sex_ratio1.csv and keep the same ID.
1. Number of variables: 44
2. Number of cases/rows: 108
3. Variable List:
- Female_ID: Code unique to each spider sample comrised of Infection (see below)+Replicate. Same individuals were used in Sex_ratio1.csv
- Infection: Spiders had a combination of five heritable bacteria (symbionts): U = uninfected (no symbiont), R = Rickettsiella (+), T = Tisiphia (+), W = Wolbachia (+). Spiders can have up to 3 strains of Wolbachia, strains are denoted by number (W1 = Wolbachia strain 1)
- Conc[cp/uL]: Concentration of DNA copies per microliter of sample - conc is presented for the host gene (18S) and each symbiont
- valid: number of partitions ran in dPCR cycle - presented for the host gene (18S) and each symbiont
- Positive: number of positive dPCR partitions - presented for the host gene (18S) and each symbiont
- Negative: number of negative dPCR partitions (DNA not amplified) - presented for the host gene (18S) and each symbiont
- λ : Value of the expectation for positive events (λ = -ln(Valid-Positive/Valid))) - presented for the host gene (18S) and each symbiont
- CI (95%): Confidence interval for partions (samples with less than 100 unexpected positive partions and a high CI were considered negative) - presented for the host gene (18S) and each symbiont
- M.fradeorum_18S_12ng: Original concentration of M. fradeorum (spider) 18S copies accounting for dilution factor. Only the host has this variable (replaced by symbiont titer for symbionts)
- Symbiont titer: Final estimation of titer for normalized to M.fradeorum_18S_12ng value for that spider. Titer is presented for each symbiont. Symbionts used different single copy genes as targets for dPCR: Rickettsiella = recA, Tisiphia = rpoB, Wolbachia = wsp (with primers specific to each Wolbachia strain).
4. Missing data codes: N/A (data not applicable)
5. Specialized formats or other abbreviations used:
Data sheet has sections for each symbiont with the above variable list:
- M fradeorum (spider host) - columns C-I
- Rickettsiella - J-P
- Tisiphia - Q-W
- Wolbachia 1 - X-AD
- Wolbachia 2 - AE-AK
- Wolbachia 3 - AL-AR