A Potential Role for the Interaction of Wolbachia Surface Proteins with the Brugia malayi Glycolytic Enzymes and Cytoskeleton in Maintenance of Endosymbiosis

Abstract

The human filarial parasite Brugia malayi harbors an endosymbiotic bacterium of the genus Wolbachia. The Wolbachia represent an attractive target for the control of filarial induced disease as elimination of the bacteria affects molting, reproduction and survival of the worms. The molecular basis for the symbiotic relationship between Wolbachia and their filarial hosts has yet to be elucidated. To identify proteins involved in this process, we focused on the Wolbachia surface proteins (WSPs), which are known to be involved in bacteria-host interactions in other bacterial systems. Two WSP-like proteins (wBm0152 and wBm0432) were localized to various host tissues of the B. malayi female adult worms and are present in the excretory/secretory products of the worms. We provide evidence that both of these proteins bind specifically to B. malayi crude protein extracts and to individual filarial proteins to create functional complexes. The wBm0432 interacts with several key enzymes involved in the host glycolytic pathway, including aldolase and enolase. The wBm0152 interacts with the host cytoskeletal proteins actin and tubulin. We also show these interactions in vitro and have verified that wBm0432 and B. malayi aldolase, as well as wBm0152 and B. malayi actin, co-localize to the vacuole surrounding Wolbachia. We propose that both WSP protein complexes interact with each other via the aldolase-actin link and/or via the possible interaction between the host's enolase and the cytoskeleton, and play a role in Wolbachia distribution during worm growth and embryogenesis.

The Modulation of the Symbiont/Host Interaction between Wolbachia pipientis and Aedes fluviatilis Embryos by Glycogen Metabolism

“…Wolbachia is an obligate intracellular Gram-negative microorganism, maternally inherited in a wide range of arthropods, naturally present in 40% of known insect species [48]. Wolbachia is able to play the roles of parasite or of symbiont, with a preference for gonadal tissue cells, and.…”

Wolbachia: Can we save lives with a great pandemic?

“…For instance, the remarkable discoveries that infected mosquitos show resistance to dengue, Chikungunya virus, yellow fever, and even malaria [5,6] create a potentially cheap and sustainable system in which the great pandemic of Wolbachia can be used to control mosquito and other insect vectors. Equally exciting are areas that have focused on the mutualistic role that Wolbachia play with filarial nematodes, the causative agents of lymphatic filariasis and river blindness that afflict hundreds of millions of people [7,8]. This research aims to eliminate the Wolbachia infection and thereby reduce the fitness of the nematodes that depend on it.…”

“…These phenotypes serve to increase the frequency of infected females in a host population and therefore the scale of maternal transmission of Wolbachia to the next generation. While each of these modifications has been characterized at a foundational level, their underlying mechanisms are enigmatic [7]. …”

“…An infected female is able to rescue this disparity by making compensatory changes in either pronucleus. The mistiming model can be expanded to suggest that the asynchrony actually occurs between the paternal pronuclei and maternal cytoplasm [7,18]. …”

Tracing the history and ecological context of Wolbachia double infection in a specialist host (Urophora cardui)—parasitoid (Eurytoma serratulae) system

“…Melnikow et al. (2013) showed that WSP family proteins might be involved in optimization of the energy production pathway as well as in anchoring Wolbachia to the host's cytoskeleton. The hypothesis entails that pupae represent the most receptive stage for horizontal infections, which can be tested as the (trans)infection probability among developmental stages (egg, larvae, early/late pupae) of potential or actual hosts.…”