Host environment shapes filarial parasite fitness and Wolbachia endosymbionts dynamics
Fig 5
Impact of Wolbachia on larval reproductive development.
Whole-mount confocal images of 33 dpi Wb(+) and Wb(-) Litomosoides sigmodontis worms stained for DNA (DAPI, cyan), Wolbachia (16S ribosomal subunit, yellow). Tissue autofluorescence is displayed in magenta. Head (H) and tail (T) are indicated to orientate the worms. (A) Tail of a Wb(+) female worm, cropped (indicated by\\) to fit the panel due to its length (total length ~4 cm). (B) High-magnification view of the proliferation zone of the Wb(+) ovaries. Note the dense organization of germline nuclei and abundant Wolbachia in the rachis (arrow). (C) Whole Wb(-) female worm, with underdeveloped ovaries. (D) High-magnification view of the proliferation zone of the Wb(-) ovaries, showing the ovarian primordium devoid of Wolbachia. (E) Comparison of Wb(+) and Wb(-) male worms. The Wb(+) male exhibits a fully developed testicle running along the entire body length, terminating near the tail (arrows), while the Wb(delineated by 2 arrows) male shows an underdeveloped testicle. (F) Close-up of the tail of a Wb(+) male worm, showing a fully formed spicule (asterisk) and sperm (bright DAPI foci), indicative of mature reproductive tissues. (G) Close-up of the tail of a Wb(-) male worm, showing the absence of a spicule (arrow) and sperm.