Department of Integrative Biology, 3029 Cordley Hall, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331 USA.
USDA-ARS Horticultural Crops Research Laboratory, 3420 NW Orchard Avenue, Corvallis, OR 97330, USA.
Sci Rep. 2016 Oct 13;6:34955. doi: 10.1038/srep34955.
Wolbachia, one of the most widespread endosymbionts, is a target for biological control of mosquito-borne diseases (malaria and dengue virus), and antibiotic elimination of infectious filarial nematodes. We sequenced and analyzed the genome of a new Wolbachia strain (wPpe) in the plant-parasitic nematode Pratylenchus penetrans. Phylogenomic analyses placed wPpe as the earliest diverging Wolbachia, suggesting two evolutionary invasions into nematodes. The next branches comprised strains in sap-feeding insects, suggesting Wolbachia may have first evolved as a nutritional mutualist. Genome size, protein content, %GC, and repetitive DNA allied wPpe with mutualistic Wolbachia, whereas gene repertoire analyses placed it between parasite (A, B) and mutualist (C, D, F) groups. Conservation of iron metabolism genes across Wolbachia suggests iron homeostasis as a potential factor in its success. This study enhances our understanding of this globally pandemic endosymbiont, highlighting genetic patterns associated with host changes. Combined with future work on this strain, these genomic data could help provide potential new targets for plant-parasitic nematode control.
沃尔巴克氏体是分布最广泛的内共生体之一，是针对蚊媒疾病（疟疾和登革热病毒）和抗生素消除传染性丝虫的生物控制的目标。我们对寄生植物线虫根结线虫中的一种新的沃尔巴克氏体菌株（wPpe）进行了测序和分析。系统基因组分析将 wPpe 定位为最早分化的沃尔巴克氏体，表明沃尔巴克氏体有两次向线虫的进化入侵。接下来的分支包含了吸食植物汁液的昆虫中的菌株，这表明沃尔巴克氏体可能最初是作为一种营养共生体进化而来的。基因组大小、蛋白质含量、GC%和重复 DNA 将 wPpe 与互利共生的沃尔巴克氏体联系在一起，而基因谱分析将其置于寄生虫（A、B）和互利共生体（C、D、F）之间。沃尔巴克氏体中铁代谢基因的保守性表明铁稳态可能是其成功的一个潜在因素。本研究增强了我们对这种全球流行的内共生体的理解，突出了与宿主变化相关的遗传模式。结合对该菌株的未来研究，这些基因组数据可以帮助提供控制植物寄生线虫的潜在新目标。
