Host manipulation by the Wolbachia effector protein TomO

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K15065
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Insect science
• Research Institution: Jikei University School of Medicine
• Principal Investigator: Ote Manabu 東京慈恵会医科大学, 医学部, 助教 (20386717)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: ボルバキア / RNA / TomO

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Wolbachia, endosymbiotic bacteria prevalent in invertebrates, manipulate their hosts in a variety of ways: they induce cytoplasmic incompatibility, male lethality, male-to-female transformation, and parthenogenesis. However, little is known about the molecular basis for host manipulation by these bacteria. In Drosophila melanogaster, Wolbachia infection makes otherwise sterile Sex-lethal (Sxl) mutant females capable of producing mature eggs. Through a functional genomic screen for Wolbachia genes with growth-inhibitory effects when expressed in cultured Drosophila cells, I identified the gene TomO, which phenocopies some of the Wolbachia effects in Sxl mutant D. melanogaster females. TomO enhanced the maintenance of germ stem cells by elevating Nanos expression via its interaction with nos mRNA, ultimately leading to the restoration of germ cell production in Sxl mutant females that are otherwise without GSCs.

Free Research Field

昆虫学