Luo Qing-Chen, Li Yue-Yuan, Ren Ye-Song, Yang Xiao-Hui, Zhu Dao-Hong
Laboratory of Insect Behavior and Evolutionary Ecology, College of Life Science and Technology, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha, China.
College of Life Science, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, China.
Front Microbiol. 2025 Jan 8;15:1499315. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1499315. eCollection 2024.
Phage WO represents the sole bacteriophage identified to infect , exerting a range of impacts on the ecological dynamics and evolutionary trajectories of its host. Given the extensive prevalence of across various species, phage WO is likely among the most prolific phage lineages within arthropod populations. To examine the diversity and evolutionary dynamics of phage WO, we conducted a screening for the presence of phage WO in -infected cricket species from China.
The presence of phage WO was detected using a PCR-based methodology. To elucidate the evolutionary forces driving phage WO diversity, analyses of intragenic recombination were conducted employing established recombination techniques, and horizontal transmission was investigated through comparative phylogenetic analysis of the phages and their hosts.
Out of 19 cricket species infected with , 18 species were found to harbor phage WO. Notably, 13 of these 18 cricket species hosted multiple phage types, with the number of types ranging from two to 10, while the remaining five species harbored a single phage type. Twelve horizontal transmission events of phage WO were identified, wherein common phage WO types were shared among different strains. Notably, each phage WO horizontal transfer event was associated with distinct supergroups, specifically supergroups A, B, and F. Previous studies have found that four strains infect two to five species of crickets. However, among these cricket species, in addition to the shared phage WO types, all harbored species-specific phage WO types. This suggests that in crickets may acquire phage WO types through horizontal viral transfer between eukaryotes, independent of involvement. Furthermore, nine putative recombination events were identified across seven cricket species harboring multiple phage types. These findings suggest that horizontal transmission and intragenic recombination have played a significant role in the evolution of the phage WO genome, effectively enhancing the diversity of phage WO associated with crickets.
噬菌体WO是唯一被鉴定出具有感染性的噬菌体，对其宿主的生态动态和进化轨迹产生了一系列影响。鉴于其在各种物种中的广泛流行，噬菌体WO可能是节肢动物种群中最多产的噬菌体谱系之一。为了研究噬菌体WO的多样性和进化动态，我们对来自中国的感染了[某种生物]的蟋蟀物种进行了噬菌体WO存在情况的筛选。
使用基于PCR的方法检测噬菌体WO的存在。为了阐明驱动噬菌体WO多样性的进化力量，采用既定的重组技术进行基因内重组分析，并通过对噬菌体及其宿主的比较系统发育分析来研究水平传播。
在19种感染了[某种生物]的蟋蟀物种中，有18种被发现携带噬菌体WO。值得注意的是，这18种蟋蟀中有13种宿主含有多种噬菌体类型，类型数量从两种到十种不等，而其余五种物种只携带一种噬菌体类型。鉴定出了12次噬菌体WO的水平传播事件，其中不同的[某种生物]菌株共享常见的噬菌体WO类型。值得注意的是，每次噬菌体WO水平转移事件都与不同的[某种生物]超群相关，特别是A、B和F超群。先前的研究发现，四种[某种生物]菌株感染两到五种蟋蟀物种。然而
