An Earliest Endosymbiont, <i>Wolbachia massiliensis</i> sp. nov., Strain PL13 from the Bed Bug (<i>Cimex hemipterus</i>), Type Strain of a New Supergroup T
The symbiotic <i>Wolbachia</i> are the most sophisticated mutualistic bacterium among all insect-associated microbiota. <i>Wolbachia</i>-insect relationship fluctuates from the simple facultative/parasitic to an obligate nutritional-mutualistic association as it was the case...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2020-10-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Molecular Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/21/21/8064 |
| Summary: | The symbiotic <i>Wolbachia</i> are the most sophisticated mutualistic bacterium among all insect-associated microbiota. <i>Wolbachia</i>-insect relationship fluctuates from the simple facultative/parasitic to an obligate nutritional-mutualistic association as it was the case of the bedbug-<i>Wolbachia</i> from <i>Cimex</i><i>lectularius</i>. Understanding this association may help in the control of associated arthropods. Genomic data have proven to be reliable tools in resolving some aspects of these symbiotic associations. Although, <i>Wolbachia</i> appear to be fastidious or uncultivated bacteria which strongly limited their study. Here we proposed <i>Drosophila</i> S2 cell line for the isolation and culture model to study <i>Wolbachia</i> strains. We therefore isolated and characterized a novel <i>Wolbachia</i> strain associated with the bedbug <i>Cimex</i><i>hemipterus</i>, designated as <i>wChem</i> strain PL13, and proposed <i>Wolbachia</i><i>massiliensis</i> sp. nov. strain <i>wChem</i>-PL13 a type strain of this new species from new supergroup T. Phylogenetically, T-supergroup was close to F and S-supergroups from insects and D-supergroup from filarial nematodes. We determined the 1,291,339-bp genome of <i>wChem</i>-PL13, which was the smallest insect-associated <i>Wolbachia</i> genomes. Overall, the <i>wChem</i> genome shared 50% of protein coding genes with the other insect-associated facultative <i>Wolbachia</i> strains. These findings highlight the diversity of <i>Wolbachia</i> genotypes as well as the <i>Wolbachia</i>-host relationship among Cimicinae subfamily. The <i>wChem</i> provides folate and riboflavin vitamins on which the host depends, while the bacteria had a limited translation mechanism suggesting its strong dependence to its hosts. However, the clear-cut distinction between mutualism and parasitism of the <i>wChem</i> in <i>C</i>. <i>hemipterus</i> cannot be yet ruled out. |
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| ISSN: | 1661-6596 1422-0067 |