Comparative genomics reveals the presence of putative toxin–antitoxin system in Wolbachia genomes

Singhal, Kopal; Mohanty, Sujata

doi:10.1007/s00438-017-1402-5

Cited by 13 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…Caedibacter acanthamoebae (an endosymbiont of acanthamoebae; e value: 2 × 10 –46 ), the bacterium Odyssella thessalonicensis ( e value: 9 × 10 –45 ), and Rickettsia raoultii ( e value: 7 × 10 –41 ). The RelBE toxin–antitoxin (TA) locus has been identified in multiple Wolbachia genomes 51 and is often associated with prophage WO regions (e.g., of w VitA, w Ha, w Mel, w Au, w Ri, w Suzi, w Fol, w Inc), specifically within the tail and/or capsid modules. In other bacteria, this TA system can promote the stability of its encoding mobile element, including plasmids or pathogenicity islands, through post-segregational killing of cells that have lost the antitoxin component of the TA operon 52,53 .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Wolbachia mobilome in Culex pipiens includes a putative plasmid

et al. 2019

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Wolbachia is a genus of obligate intracellular bacteria found in nematodes and arthropods worldwide, including insect vectors that transmit dengue, West Nile, and Zika viruses. Wolbachia's unique ability to alter host reproductive behavior through its temperate bacteriophage WO has enabled the development of new vector control strategies. However, our understanding of Wolbachia's mobilome beyond its bacteriophages is incomplete. Here, we reconstruct near-complete Wolbachia genomes from individual ovary metagenomes of four wild Culex pipiens mosquitoes captured in France. In addition to viral genes missing from the Wolbachia reference genome, we identify a putative plasmid (pWCP), consisting of a 9.23-kbp circular element with 14 genes. We validate its presence in additional Culex pipiens mosquitoes using PCR, long-read sequencing, and screening of existing metagenomes.The discovery of this previously unrecognized extrachromosomal element opens additional possibilities for genetic manipulation of Wolbachia.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Wolbachia mobilome in Culex pipiens includes a putative plasmid

et al. 2019

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“…The genome of Wolbachia sp. wOegib-WalB contains three copies of toxin RelE (Table S5) which is part of the RelEB type-II TA system also found in other Wolbachia genomes [68].…”

Section: Toxin-antitoxin Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

One to host them all: genomics of the diverse bacterial endosymbionts of the spiderOedothorax gibbosus

Halter

Köstlbacher

Rattei

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Bacterial endosymbionts of the groups Wolbachia, Cardinium and Rickettsiaceae are well-known for their diverse effects on their arthropod hosts, ranging from mutualistic relationships to reproductive phenotypes. Here, we analyzed a unique system in which the dwarf spider Oedothorax gibbosus is co-infected with up to five different endosymbionts affiliated with Wolbachia, ‘Candidatus Tisiphia’ (formerly Torix group Rickettsia), Cardinium, and Rhabdochlamydia. Using short-read genome sequencing data, we show that the endosymbionts are heterogeneously distributed among O. gibbosus populations and are frequently found co-infecting spider individuals. To study this intricate host-endosymbiont system on a genome resolved level, we used long-read sequencing to reconstruct closed genomes of the Wolbachia, ‘Ca. Tisiphia’ and Cardinium endosymbionts. We provide insights in the ecology and evolution of the endosymbionts and shed light on the interactions with their spider host. We detected high quantities of transposable elements in all endosymbiont genomes and provide evidence that ancestors of the Cardinium, ‘Ca. Tisiphia’ and Wolbachia endosymbionts have co-infected the same hosts in the past. Our findings contribute to broadening our knowledge about endosymbionts infecting one of the largest animal phyla on earth and show the usefulness of transposable elements as an evolutionary “contact-tracing” tool.Data summaryAll supporting data, code and protocols have been provided within the article or through supplementary data files. Seven supplementary figures and seven supplementary tables are available with the online version of this article. Sequencing data used in this study was generated and previously published by Hendrickx et al., 2021. Genome assemblies generated in this study have been deposited under the project PRJEB52003 at DDBJ/ENA/GenBank. The MAG of R. oedothoracis OV001 was deposited at DDBJ/ENA/GenBank under the sample SAMN28026840. The genome of ‘Candidatus Rhabdochlamydia oedothoracis W744×776’ was previously published by Halter et al., 2022 and is available at DDBJ/ENA/GenBank (accession: CP075587-CP075588). The collection of genomes and proteomes, all files for phylogenetic analyses including gene alignments, concatenated alignments, and tree files, and original output files of the HGT and SNP predictions used in this study are available at zenodo (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6362846).

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“…and Salmonella enterica which can cause persistent and latent infections [58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66]. Interestingly, bacterial toxin-antitoxin (TA) genes of the RelEB family thought to cause persister cell formation in insect-associated Wolbachia, were absent in Wolbachia from filarial nematodes, suggesting that TAs may not be involved in persister formation of Wolbachia within the clusters and that other mechanisms are likely at play [67][68][69][70].…”

Section: Plos Pathogensmentioning

confidence: 99%

The endosymbiont Wolbachia rebounds following antibiotic treatment

et al. 2020

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Antibiotic treatment has emerged as a promising strategy to sterilize and kill filarial nematodes due to their dependence on their endosymbiotic bacteria, Wolbachia. Several studies have shown that novel and FDA-approved antibiotics are efficacious at depleting the filarial nematodes of their endosymbiont, thus reducing female fecundity. However, it remains unclear if antibiotics can permanently deplete Wolbachia and cause sterility for the lifespan of the adult worms. Concerns about resistance arising from mass drug administration necessitate a careful exploration of potential Wolbachia recrudescence. In the present study, we investigated the long-term effects of the FDA-approved antibiotic, rifampicin, in the Brugia pahangi jird model of infection. Initially, rifampicin treatment depleted Wolbachia in adult worms and simultaneously impaired female worm fecundity. However, during an 8month washout period, Wolbachia titers rebounded and embryogenesis returned to normal. Genome sequence analyses of Wolbachia revealed that despite the population bottleneck and recovery, no genetic changes occurred that could account for the rebound. Clusters of densely packed Wolbachia within the worm's ovarian tissues were observed by confocal microscopy and remained in worms treated with rifampicin, suggesting that they may serve as privileged sites that allow Wolbachia to persist in worms while treated with antibiotic. To our knowledge, these clusters have not been previously described and may be the source of the Wolbachia rebound.

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Comparative genomics reveals the presence of putative toxin–antitoxin system in Wolbachia genomes

Cited by 13 publications

References 54 publications

The Wolbachia mobilome in Culex pipiens includes a putative plasmid

The Wolbachia mobilome in Culex pipiens includes a putative plasmid

One to host them all: genomics of the diverse bacterial endosymbionts of the spiderOedothorax gibbosus

The endosymbiont Wolbachia rebounds following antibiotic treatment

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