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doi:10.1534/genetics.105.052431
A more recent version of this article appeared on June 1, 2006.
REGULAR RESEARCH PAPERS |
Induced paternal effects mimic cytoplasmic incompatibility in Drosophila
Michael Clark 1, Benjamin D Heath 2, Cort Anderson 3 and Timothy L. Karr 2*
1 Rochester University
2 University of Bath
3 University of Idaho
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: t.l.karr{at}bath.ac.uk.
Submitted on October 14, 2005
Revised on December 14, 2005
Accepted on 4 February 2006
Wolbachia is an intracellular microbe found in a wide diversity of arthropod and filarial nematode hosts. In arthropods these common bacteria are reproductive parasites that manipulate central elements of their host's reproduction in order to in-crease their own maternal transmission in one of several ways. Cytoplasmic incom-patibility (CI) is one such manipulation where sperm are somehow modified in in-fected males and this modification must be 'rescued' by the presence of the same bacterial strain in the egg for normal development to proceed. The molecular mecha-nisms involved in the expression of CI are unknown. Here we show that Wolbachia infection results in increased mRNA and protein expression of the D. simulans non-muscle myosin II gene, zipper. Induced overexpression of zipper in Wolbachia-free transgenic D. melanogaster males results in paternal-effect lethality that mimics the fertilization defects associated with CI. Likewise, overexpression of the tumor sup-pressor gene, lethal giant larvae (l(2)gl), results in egg lethality and a CI phenotype. Stoichiometric levels of Zipper and l(2)gl are required for proper segregation of cellular determinants during neuroblast stem cell division. Taken together these results form the basis of a working hypothesis whereby Wolbachia induces paternal effects in sperm by manipulating the expression of key regulators of cytoskeletal activity during spermatogenesis.
Key Words: Wolbachia, incompatibility, insect, paternal effect
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