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A Wolbachia deubiquitylating enzyme induces cytoplasmic incompatibility.

ABSTRACT: Wolbachia are obligate intracellular bacteria1 that infect arthropods, including approximately two-thirds of insect species2. Wolbachia manipulate insect reproduction by enhancing their inheritance through the female germline. The most common alteration is cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI)3-5, where eggs from uninfected females fail to develop when fertilized by sperm from Wolbachia-infected males. By contrast, if female and male partners are both infected, embryos are viable. CI is a gene-drive mechanism impacting population structure6 and causing reproductive isolation7, but its molecular mechanism has remained unknown. We show that a Wolbachia deubiquitylating enzyme (DUB) induces CI. The CI-inducing DUB, CidB, cleaves ubiquitin from substrates and is encoded in a two-gene operon, and the other protein, CidA, binds CidB. Binding is strongest between cognate partners in cidA-cidB homologues. In transgenic Drosophila, the cidA-cidB operon mimics CI when sperm introduce it into eggs, and a catalytically inactive DUB does not induce sterility. Toxicity is recapitulated in yeast by CidB alone; this requires DUB activity but is rescued by coexpressed CidA. A paralogous operon involves a putative nuclease (CinB) rather than a DUB. Analogous binding, toxicity and rescue in yeast were observed. These results identify a CI mechanism involving interacting proteins that are secreted into germline cells by Wolbachia, and suggest new methods for insect control.

SUBMITTER: Beckmann JF

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5336136 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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A Wolbachia deubiquitylating enzyme induces cytoplasmic incompatibility.

Beckmann John F JF Ronau Judith A JA Hochstrasser Mark M

Nature microbiology 20170301

Wolbachia are obligate intracellular bacteria1 that infect arthropods, including approximately two-thirds of insect species2. Wolbachia manipulate insect reproduction by enhancing their inheritance through the female germline. The most common alteration is cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI)3-5, where eggs from uninfected females fail to develop when fertilized by sperm from Wolbachia-infected males. By contrast, if female and male partners are both infected, embryo ...[more]

PMID: 28248294

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Project description:Wolbachia are intracellular bacteria transmitted almost exclusively vertically through eggs. In response to this mode of transmission, Wolbachia strategically manipulate their insect hosts' reproduction. In the most common manipulation type, cytoplasmic incompatibility, infected males can only mate with infected females, but infected females can mate with all males. The mechanism of cytoplasmic incompatibility is unknown; theoretical and empirical findings need to converge to broaden our understanding of this phenomenon. For this purpose, two prominent models have been proposed: the mistiming-model and the lock-key-model. The former states that Wolbachia manipulate sperm of infected males to induce a fatal delay of the male pronucleus during the first embryonic division, but that the bacteria can compensate the delay by slowing down mitosis in fertilized eggs. The latter states that Wolbachia deposit damaging "locks" on sperm DNA of infected males, but can also provide matching "keys" in infected eggs to undo the damage. The lock-key-model, however, needs to assume a large number of locks and keys to explain all existing incompatibility patterns. The mistiming-model requires fewer assumptions but has been contradicted by empirical results. We therefore expand the mistiming-model by one quantitative dimension to create the new, so-called goalkeeper-model. Using a method based on formal logic, we show that both lock-key- and goalkeeper-model are consistent with existing data. Compared to the lock-key-model, however, the goalkeeper-model assumes only two factors and provides an idea of the evolutionary emergence of cytoplasmic incompatibility. Available cytological evidence suggests that the hypothesized second factor of the goalkeeper-model may indeed exist. Finally, we suggest empirical tests that would allow to distinguish between the models. Generalizing our results might prove interesting for the study of the mechanism and evolution of other host-parasite interactions.

Dataset Information

A Wolbachia deubiquitylating enzyme induces cytoplasmic incompatibility.

Publications

A Wolbachia deubiquitylating enzyme induces cytoplasmic incompatibility.

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