The Endosymbiotic Bacterium Selectively Kills Male Hosts by Targeting the Masculinizing Gene

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Pathogens are known to manipulate the physiology, behavior, and reproduction of their hosts for their own benefit. The endosymbiotic bacterium Wolbachia is known to manipulate the sex of its host's progeny. Male-killing is one of the phenotypes that Wolbachia induces, but the mechanism of how Wolbachia induces sex-specific death is unknown. Here we found a marked down-regulation of Masc, a lepidopteran-specific zinc finger protein gene, in embryos that are produced by Wolbachia-infected Ostrinia moths. We also observed that dosage compensation fails in Wolbachia-infected Ostrinia embryos. The findings of this study and our previous study using a lepidopteran model insect Bombyx mori indicate that Wolbachia has evolved to hijack the Masc-dependent, lepidopteran insect-specific sex determination system by capturing an unknown factor during Wolbachia-host coevolution.

Vyšlo v časopise: The Endosymbiotic Bacterium Selectively Kills Male Hosts by Targeting the Masculinizing Gene. PLoS Pathog 11(7): e32767. doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1005048
Kategorie: Research Article
prolekare.web.journal.doi_sk: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1005048

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