Thongprem, Panupong 
ORCID: 0000-0001-6542-235X
(2021)
Torix Rickettsia : aspects of diversity, host range and symbiont-host interaction.
PhD thesis, University of Liverpool.
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Abstract
Rickettsia bacteria have traditionally been considered as the aetiologic agent of deadly arthropod-borne diseases in humans and livestock. However, more recent studies have discovered Rickettsia as non-vertebrate pathogens that are actually important to invertebrate evolution as symbionts. Recently, Rickettsia in the 'torix' clade were described from glossiphoniid leeches. This clade has since been observed to infect a wide range of invertebrate species and is thought to be most common in host species associated with freshwater habitats. This leads to a general hypothesis that torix Rickettsia are a common endosymbiont of freshwater taxa. However, this hypothesis is yet to be formally tested. To assess this hypothesis, I firstly investigated in-depth a freshwater-associated insect order, the Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies), in which torix Rickettsia had not been previously recorded. This study revealed the first incidence of torix Rickettsia in odonates, present in roughly 10% of the screened species. Maternal transmission of this endosymbiont was observed in a damselfly (Coenagrion puella), and this strain has likely driven mtDNA introgression between the insect and its sister species (C. pulchellum). ... (continues)
| Item Type: | Thesis (PhD) |
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| Divisions: | Faculty of Health and Life Sciences |
| Depositing User: | Symplectic Admin |
| Date Deposited: | 22 Apr 2021 15:54 |
| Last Modified: | 26 Jul 2025 15:53 |
| DOI: | 10.17638/03119474 |
| Supervisors: |
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| URI: | https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3119474 |
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