Nutritional upgrading for omnivorous carpenter ants by the endosymbiont Blochmannia

Feldhaar, Heike; Straka, J.; Krischke, Markus; Berthold, Kristina; Stoll, Sascha; Mueller, Martin J.; Gross, Roy

doi:10.1186/1741-7007-5-48

Cited by 264 publications

(317 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Westeberhardia cardiocondylae' strain obscurior and provide a first characterization of its relationship with C. obscurior. Phylogenomic analysis indicates that Westeberhardia is closely related to Blochmannia, the obligate endosymbiont of Camponotus ants (Feldhaar et al, 2007). Nevertheless, its phylogenetic placement has to be considered with caution, because of long-branch attraction.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nutrient-providing symbionts are commonly found in hosts with restricted diets, for example, aphids feeding on phloem sap (Baumann, 2005), blood-feeding diptera (Wang et al, 2013) or grain weevils (Heddi et al, 1999). Symbionts can provide essential amino acids, vitamins or help in nitrogen recycling (Nakabachi et al, 2005;Feldhaar et al, 2007;Michalkova et al, 2014;Patino-Navarrete et al, 2014). Such bacteria are commonly harbored in bacteriocytes, specialized host cells that sometimes form special organ-like structures, the bacteriomes (Baumann, 2005) or are confined to the insect gut (Engel and Moran, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A novel intracellular mutualistic bacterium in the invasive antCardiocondyla obscurior

et al. 2015

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The evolution of eukaryotic organisms is often strongly influenced by microbial symbionts that confer novel traits to their hosts. Here we describe the intracellular Enterobacteriaceae symbiont of the invasive ant Cardiocondyla obscurior, 'Candidatus Westeberhardia cardiocondylae'. Upon metamorphosis, Westeberhardia is found in gut-associated bacteriomes that deteriorate following eclosion. Only queens maintain Westeberhardia in the ovarian nurse cells from where the symbionts are transmitted to late-stage oocytes during nurse cell depletion. Functional analyses of the streamlined genome of Westeberhardia (533 kb, 23.41% GC content) indicate that neither vitamins nor essential amino acids are provided for the host. However, the genome encodes for an almost complete shikimate pathway leading to 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate, which could be converted into tyrosine by the host. Taken together with increasing titers of Westeberhardia during pupal stage, this suggests a contribution of Westeberhardia to cuticle formation. Despite a widespread occurrence of Westeberhardia across host populations, one ant lineage was found to be naturally symbiont-free, pointing to the loss of an otherwise prevalent endosymbiont. This study yields insights into a novel intracellular mutualist that could play a role in the invasive success of C. obscurior.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A novel intracellular mutualistic bacterium in the invasive antCardiocondyla obscurior

et al. 2015

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“…Recent investigations suggest that the interaction is mediated by a host peptidoglycan recognition protein that is involved both in host immune tolerance to the obligate symbiont and in the trypanosome infection process [19]. Blochmannia symbionts in carpenter ants of the genus Camponotus provide their hosts with amino acids [20], but may also affect their encapsulation ability of foreign bodies such as parasitoid eggs [21]. Ants with higher bacterial densities display an increased encapsulation response, although it is unclear whether this is simply a consequence of their better nutritional condition.…”

Section: Are Heritable Endosymbionts Affecting Important Ecological Tmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bacterial symbionts in insects or the story of communities affecting communities

Ferrari

Vavre

2011

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

304

280

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Bacterial symbionts are widespread in insects and other animals. Most of them are predominantly vertically transmitted, along with their hosts' genes, and thus extend the heritable genetic variation present in one species. These passengers have a variety of repercussions on the host's phenotypes: besides the cost imposed on the host for maintaining the symbiont population, they can provide fitness advantages to the host or manipulate the host's reproduction. We argue that insect symbioses are ideal model systems for community genetics. First, bacterial symbionts directly or indirectly affect the interactions with other species within a community. Examples include their involvement in modifying the use of host plants by phytophagous insects, in providing resistance to natural enemies, but also in reducing the global genetic diversity or gene flow between populations within some species. Second, one emerging picture in insect symbioses is that many species are simultaneously infected with more than one symbiont, which permits studying the factors that shape bacterial communities; for example, horizontal transmission, interactions between host genotype, symbiont genotype and the environment and interactions among symbionts. One conclusion is that insects' symbiotic complements are dynamic communities that affect and are affected by the communities in which they are embedded.

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“…Well documented in the mammals and in several insects, specific symbioses related to particular trophic habits are widely argued to reflect the importance of bacteria in host dietary utilization (see, for example, Ley et al, 2008;Russell et al, 2009). Empirical and metagenomic evidence clearly indicate such an importance (Feldhaar et al, 2007;Douglas, 2009;Muegge et al, 2011). Hence, are shifts in bacteria essential for shifts in diet or trophic level?…”

Section: The Functional Implications Of Variable Gut Communitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Divergence across diet, time and populations rules out parallel evolution in the gut microbiomes of Trinidadian guppies

et al. 2015

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Diverse microbial consortia profoundly influence animal biology, necessitating an understanding of microbiome variation in studies of animal adaptation. Yet, little is known about such variability among fish, in spite of their importance in aquatic ecosystems. The Trinidadian guppy, Poecilia reticulata, is an intriguing candidate to test microbiome-related hypotheses on the drivers and consequences of animal adaptation, given the recent parallel origins of a similar ecotype across streams. To assess the relationships between the microbiome and host adaptation, we used 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing to characterize gut bacteria of two guppy ecotypes with known divergence in diet, life history, physiology and morphology collected from low-predation (LP) and high-predation (HP) habitats in four Trinidadian streams. Guts were populated by several recurring, core bacteria that are related to other fish associates and rarely detected in the environment. Although gut communities of lab-reared guppies differed from those in the wild, microbiome divergence between ecotypes from the same stream was evident under identical rearing conditions, suggesting host genetic divergence can affect associations with gut bacteria. In the field, gut communities varied over time, across streams and between ecotypes in a stream-specific manner. This latter finding, along with PICRUSt predictions of metagenome function, argues against strong parallelism of the gut microbiome in association with LP ecotype evolution. Thus, bacteria cannot be invoked in facilitating the heightened reliance of LP guppies on lower-quality diets. We argue that the macroevolutionary microbiome convergence seen across animals with similar diets may be a signature of secondary microbial shifts arising some time after host-driven adaptation.

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Nutritional upgrading for omnivorous carpenter ants by the endosymbiont Blochmannia

Cited by 264 publications

References 34 publications

A novel intracellular mutualistic bacterium in the invasive antCardiocondyla obscurior

A novel intracellular mutualistic bacterium in the invasive antCardiocondyla obscurior

Bacterial symbionts in insects or the story of communities affecting communities

Divergence across diet, time and populations rules out parallel evolution in the gut microbiomes of Trinidadian guppies

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