Whole-Genome sequencing of the schizomid arachnid Rowlandius potiguar Santos, Ferreira and Buzzato, 2013 from the caves of the Brazilian semiarid

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  Image Credit: CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=40194191 Whole-Genome sequencing of the schizomid arachnid Rowlandius potiguar Santos, Ferreira and Buzzato, 2013 from the caves of the Brazilian semiarid Abstract Short-tailed whip scorpions (Arachnida: Schizomida) are a poorly studied group of arachnids, particularly in terms of genomic resources, despite their ecological and evolutionary relevance in subterranean environments. In this study, we present the first draft genome assembly of Rowlandius potiguar, a cave-associated species endemic to karst systems of northeastern Brazil. Genomic DNA was sequenced using Illumina paired-end technology (2 × 150 bp), and reads were assembled using a de novo assembly pipeline. The resulting genome assembly has a total length of 1.8 Gb, distributed across 1,505,104 scaffolds and 1,510,944 contigs, indicating a highly fragmented assembly. The scaffold N50 and contig N50 values were both 3.2 kb, and the GC content was ...

Elevated Temperatures Disrupt Wolbachia-Induced Feminisation and Reshape Microbial Community Dynamics Across Generations in a Spider Host

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Elevated Temperatures Disrupt Wolbachia-Induced Feminisation and Reshape Microbial Community Dynamics Across Generations in a Spider Host

ABSTRACT

Longitudinal microbial interactions within a host are challenging to study, leading to a focus on constructed microbial communities in vitro settings. Here, we take advantage of a naturally defined microbial community within a spider host to study how elevated temperatures influence microbial dynamics and phenotypes across host generations. The spider Mermessus fradeorum hosts up to five endosymbionts, including a Wolbachia strain, W1, which induces feminisation, causing genetic males to develop as phenotypic females, skewing sex ratios and promoting symbiont spread. Despite this, Wolbachia 1 persists at intermediate frequencies in wild populations. We hypothesised that elevated temperatures might reduce penetration of the feminisation phenotype, potentially by altering symbiont dynamics and maternal transmission. We exposed spiderlings co-infected with Wolbachia 1 to elevated temperatures for one generation and measured feminisation rate, symbiont transmission, and titre across three generations. Feminisation was unaffected in the exposed (F1) generation but declined in subsequent generations (F2, F3) that were not directly exposed. This multigenerational effect was linked to shifts in symbiont community dynamics: low feminisation coincided with high abundance of one symbiont, Rickettsiella, a decline in Wolbachia 1 transmission, and complete loss of another symbiont, Tisiphia. Our findings demonstrate how environmental history shapes the evolutionary stability of microbial communities and their induced phenotype in their natural host.

Mackevicius-Dubickaja, V., White, J. A., Williams, E. E., Klement, E., Gottlieb, Y., & Doremus, M. R. (2026). Elevated Temperatures Disrupt Wolbachia-Induced Feminisation and Reshape Microbial Community Dynamics Across Generations in a Spider Host. Molecular Ecology, 35(9), e70371. https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.70371