Mai Miyata

The paper tracks the rapid spread and subsequent decline of a feminizing Wolbachia strain in a butterfly population, showing significant shifts in sex ratio over a few years.

This study uses cell transinfection and comparative genomics to show that Wolbachia strains inducing male killing or feminization affect sex-determining gene splicing in Lepidoptera, while some non-inducing strains also influence sex determination through different mechanisms.

The paper tracks the rapid spread of Wolbachia in a butterfly population, causing a drastic shift from a 1:1 sex ratio to a female-biased ratio of 94.4% in 4 years.