Xin Yee Tan Kathrine, Shigenobu Shuji
Department of Basic Biology, School of Life Science, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI), 38 Nishigonaka, Myodaiji, Okazaki, Aichi 444-8585, Japan.
Laboratory of Evolutionary Genomics, National Institute for Basic Biology, Okazaki 444-8585, Japan.
iScience. 2025 Jul 22;28(8):113178. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2025.113178. eCollection 2025 Aug 15.
The obligate symbiosis between pea aphids () and represents metabolic interdependence between the host insect and its bacterial symbiont. has a highly reduced genome that has lost nearly all phospholipid synthesis genes except , encoding a cardiolipin synthase homologue. We employed antisense, cell-penetrating peptide (CPP)-conjugated synthetic peptide nucleic acids (PNAs) to knock down in . This intervention resulted in significant downregulation of expression, lowered titers, pronounced morphological distortions, and reduced aphid reproduction. Notably, cells were often detected in the aphid gut following anti- PNAs treatment, deviating from their typical intracellular niche within bacteriocytes. Collectively, the gene is critical for maintaining integrity, proper cellular localization, and symbiont-host interactions. Given that the retention of is a common feature among many obligate endosymbionts despite massive gene loss, our findings offer key insights into the evolutionary principles shaping symbiotic relationships involving membrane biology.
豌豆蚜（）与 之间的专性共生代表了宿主昆虫与其细菌共生体之间的代谢相互依存关系。 拥有一个高度简化的基因组，几乎失去了所有磷脂合成基因，除了 ，它编码一种心磷脂合酶同源物。我们使用了与细胞穿透肽（CPP）偶联的反义合成肽核酸（PNA）来敲低 中的 。这种干预导致 表达显著下调、 滴度降低、明显的形态畸变以及蚜虫繁殖减少。值得注意的是，在抗 PNA 处理后，经常在蚜虫肠道中检测到 细胞，这与它们在含菌细胞内典型的细胞内生态位不同。总体而言， 基因对于维持 的完整性、正确的细胞定位以及共生体 - 宿主相互作用至关重要。鉴于尽管基因大量丢失，但 在许多专性内共生体中保留是一个共同特征，我们的发现为塑造涉及膜生物学的共生关系的进化原则提供了关键见解。
