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Title: Development of Anncaliia algerae (Microsporidia) in Drosophila melanogaster
Abstract
Representatives of the genusAnncaliiaare known as natural parasites of dipteran and coleopteran insects, amphipod crustaceans, but also humans, primarily with immunodeficiency.Anncaliia algerae‐caused fatal myositis is considered as an emergent infectious disease in humans.A. (=Nosema, Brachiola) algerae, the best studied species of the genus, demonstrates the broadest among microsporidia range of natural and experimental hosts, but it has never been propagated inDrosophila. We present ultrastructural analysis of development ofA. algeraein visceral muscles and adipocytes ofDrosophila melanogaster2 wk after per oral experimental infection. We observed typical toAnncaliiaspp. features of ultrastructure and cell pathology including spore morphology, characteristic extensions of the plasma membrane, and presence of “ridges” and appendages of tubular material at proliferative stages.Anncaliia algeraedevelopment inD. melanogasterwas particularly similar to one ofA. algeraeandA.(Brachiola) vesicularumin humans with acute myositis. GivenD. melanogasteris currently the most established genetic model, with a fully sequenced genome and easily available transgenic forms and genomic markers, a novel host–parasite system might provide new genetic tools to investigate host–pathogen interactions ofA. algerae, as well to test antimicrosporidia drugs.
Guay, Sara Y; Patel, Prajal H; Thomalla, Jonathon M; McDermott, Kerry L; O’Toole, Jillian M; Arnold, Sarah E; Obrycki, Sarah J; Wolfner, Mariana F; Findlay, Geoffrey D(
, bioRxiv)
Abstract
New genes arise through a variety of evolutionary processes and provide raw material for adaptation in the face of both natural and sexual selection.De novoevolved genes emerge from previously non-protein-coding DNA sequences, and many such genes are expressed in male reproductive structures. InDrosophila melanogaster, several putativede novogenes have evolved essential roles in spermatogenesis, but whether such genes can also impact sperm function beyond the male has not been investigated. We identified a putativede novogene,katherine johnson(kj), that is required for high levels of male fertility. Males that do not expresskjproduce and transfer sperm that are stored normally in females, but sperm from these males enter eggs with severely reduced efficiency. Using a tagged transgenic rescue construct, we observed that KJ protein localizes to the nuclear periphery in various stages of spermatogenesis, but is not detectable in mature sperm. These data suggest thatkjexerts an effect on sperm development, the loss of which results in reduced fertilization ability. While previous bioinformatic analyses suggested thekjgene was restricted to themelanogastergroup ofDrosophila, we identified putative orthologs with conserved synteny, male-biased expression, and predicted protein features across the genus, as well as instances of gene loss in some lineages. Thus,kjpotentially arose in theDrosophilacommon ancestor and subsequently evolved an essential role inD. melanogaster. Our results demonstrate a new aspect of male reproduction that has been shaped by new gene evolution and provide a molecular foothold for further investigating the mechanism of sperm entry into eggs inDrosophila.
Article Summary
How fruit fly sperm enter eggs is poorly understood. Here, we identify a gene that potentially arose from non-protein-coding DNA and is required for efficient fertilization. Sperm from males lacking this gene’s function cannot enter eggs. The gene appears to act during sperm production, rather than in mature sperm. This study illustrates how newly evolved genes can affect important aspects of reproduction and provides insights into sperm-egg interactions.
The development of cancer is a complex multistage process. Over the past few decades, the model organismDrosophila melanogasterhas been crucial in identifying cancer‐related genes and pathways and elucidating mechanisms underlying growth regulation in development. Investigations usingDrosophilahas yielded new insights into the molecular mechanisms involved in tumor initiation and progression. In this review, we describe various tumor models that have been developed in recent years using differentDrosophilatissues, such as the imaginal tissue, the neural tissue, the gut, the ovary, and hematopoietic cells. We discuss underlying genetic alterations, cancer‐like characteristics, as well as similarities and key differences among these models. We also discuss how disruptions in stem cell division and differentiation result in tumor formation in diverse tissues, and highlight new concepts developed using the fly model to understand context‐dependent tumorigenesis. We further discuss the progress made inDrosophilato explore tumor–host interactions that involve the innate immune response to tumor growth and the cachexia wasting phenotype.
Truitt, Amy M.; Kapun, Martin; Kaur, Rupinder; Miller, Wolfgang J.(
, Environmental Microbiology)
Summary
Environmental variation can have profound and direct effects on fitness, fecundity, and host–symbiont interactions. Replication rates of microbes within arthropod hosts, for example, are correlated with incubation temperature but less is known about the influence of host–symbiont dynamics on environmental preference. Hence, we conducted thermal preference (Tp) assays and tested if infection status and genetic variation in endosymbiont bacteriumWolbachiaaffected temperature choice ofDrosophila melanogaster. We demonstrate that isogenic flies infected withWolbachiapreferred lower temperatures compared with uninfectedDrosophila. Moreover,Tpvaried with respect to three investigatedWolbachiavariants (wMel,wMelCS, andwMelPop). While uninfected individuals preferred 24.4°C, we found significant shifts of −1.2°C inwMel‐ and −4°C in flies infected either withwMelCS orwMelPop. We, therefore, postulate thatWolbachia‐associatedTpvariation within a host species might represent a behavioural accommodation to host–symbiont interactions and trigger behavioural self‐medication and bacterial titre regulation by the host.
Flies of the genus Drosophila, and particularly those of the species Drosophila melanogaster, are best known as laboratory organisms. As with all model organisms, they were domesticated for empirical studies, but they also continue to exist as wild populations.
Decades of research on these flies in the laboratory have produced astounding and important insights into basic biological processes, but we have only scratched the surface of what they have to offer as research organisms. An outstanding challenge now is to build on this knowledge and explore how natural history has shaped D. melanogaster in order to advance our understanding of biology more generally.
Resident microorganisms are known to influence the fitness and traits of animals under controlled laboratory conditions, but the relevance of these findings to wild animals is uncertain. This study investigated the host functional correlates of microbiota composition in a wild community of three sympatric species of mycophagous drosophilid flies,Drosophila falleni,Drosophila neotestaceaandDrosophila putrida. Specifically, we quantified bacterial communities and host transcriptomes by parallel 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and RNA‐Seq of individual flies. Among‐fly variation in microbiota composition did not partition strongly by sex or species, and included multiple modules, that is, sets of bacterial taxa whose abundance varied in concert across different flies. The abundance of bacteria in several modules varied significantly with multiple host transcripts, especially in females, but the identity of the correlated host transcriptional functions differed with host species, including epithelial barrier function inD. falleni, muscle function inD. putrida, and insect growth and development inD. neotestacea. InD. neotestacea,which harbours the endosymbiontsWolbachiaandSpiroplasma,Wolbachiapromotes the abundance ofSpiroplasma,and is positively correlated with abundance of Lactobacillales and Bacteroidales. Furthermore, most correlations between host gene expression and relative abundance of bacterial modules were co‐correlated with abundance ofWolbachia(but notSpiroplasma), indicative of an interdependence between host functional traits, microbiota composition andWolbachiaabundance in this species. These data suggest that, in these natural populations of drosophilid flies, different host species interact with microbial communities in functionally different ways that can vary with the abundance of endosymbionts.
Sokolova, Yuliya Y., Weidner, Earl, and DiMario, Patrick J. Development of Anncaliia algerae (Microsporidia) in Drosophila melanogaster. Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology 67.1 Web. doi:10.1111/jeu.12762.
Sokolova, Yuliya Y., Weidner, Earl, & DiMario, Patrick J. Development of Anncaliia algerae (Microsporidia) in Drosophila melanogaster. Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology, 67 (1). https://doi.org/10.1111/jeu.12762
Sokolova, Yuliya Y., Weidner, Earl, and DiMario, Patrick J.
"Development of Anncaliia algerae (Microsporidia) in Drosophila melanogaster". Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology 67 (1). Country unknown/Code not available: Wiley-Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1111/jeu.12762.https://par.nsf.gov/biblio/10459708.
@article{osti_10459708,
place = {Country unknown/Code not available},
title = {Development of Anncaliia algerae (Microsporidia) in Drosophila melanogaster},
url = {https://par.nsf.gov/biblio/10459708},
DOI = {10.1111/jeu.12762},
abstractNote = {Abstract Representatives of the genusAnncaliiaare known as natural parasites of dipteran and coleopteran insects, amphipod crustaceans, but also humans, primarily with immunodeficiency.Anncaliia algerae‐caused fatal myositis is considered as an emergent infectious disease in humans.A. (=Nosema, Brachiola) algerae, the best studied species of the genus, demonstrates the broadest among microsporidia range of natural and experimental hosts, but it has never been propagated inDrosophila. We present ultrastructural analysis of development ofA. algeraein visceral muscles and adipocytes ofDrosophila melanogaster2 wk after per oral experimental infection. We observed typical toAnncaliiaspp. features of ultrastructure and cell pathology including spore morphology, characteristic extensions of the plasma membrane, and presence of “ridges” and appendages of tubular material at proliferative stages.Anncaliia algeraedevelopment inD. melanogasterwas particularly similar to one ofA. algeraeandA.(Brachiola) vesicularumin humans with acute myositis. GivenD. melanogasteris currently the most established genetic model, with a fully sequenced genome and easily available transgenic forms and genomic markers, a novel host–parasite system might provide new genetic tools to investigate host–pathogen interactions ofA. algerae, as well to test antimicrosporidia drugs.},
journal = {Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology},
volume = {67},
number = {1},
publisher = {Wiley-Blackwell},
author = {Sokolova, Yuliya Y. and Weidner, Earl and DiMario, Patrick J.},
}
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