PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Pieter A. Arnold
AU  - Samantha C. Levin
AU  - Aleksej L. Stevanovic
AU  - Karyn N. Johnson
TI  - &lt;em&gt;Drosophila melanogaster&lt;/em&gt; infected with &lt;em&gt;Wolbachia&lt;/em&gt; strain &lt;em&gt;w&lt;/em&gt;MelCS prefer cooler temperatures
AID  - 10.1101/352872
DP  - 2018 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 352872
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/10/14/352872.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/10/14/352872.full
AB  - Temperature plays a fundamental role in the dynamics of host-pathogen interactions.Wolbachia is an endosymbiotic bacteria that infects about 40% of arthropod species, which can affect host behaviour and reproduction. Yet, the effect of Wolbachia on host thermoregulatory behaviour is largely unknown, despite its use in disease vector control programs in thermally variable environments.Here, we used a thermal gradient to test whether Drosophila melanogaster infected with Wolbachia strain wMelCS exhibit different temperature preferences (Tp) to uninfected flies.We found that Wolbachia-infected flies preferred a cooler mean temperature (Tp = 25.06±0.25°C) than uninfected flies (Tp = 25.78±0.24°C).This finding suggests that Wolbachia-infected hosts might seek out cooler microclimates to reduce exposure to and lessen the consequences of high temperatures. This finding has generated hypotheses that will be fruitful in areas of research for exploring the mechanisms by which the change in Tp occurs in this complex and significant host-pathogen-environment interaction.