| Title: | Does pupal communication influence Wolbachia-mediated cytoplasmic incompatibility? |
| Author(s): | Jacquet A; Horard B; Loppin B; |
| Address: | "Laboratoire de Biometrie et de Biologie Evolutive - CNRS UMR5558, Universite Claude Bernard Lyon1, University of Lyon, Villeurbanne, France. Laboratoire de Biometrie et de Biologie Evolutive - CNRS UMR5558, Universite Claude Bernard Lyon1, University of Lyon, Villeurbanne, France. Electronic address: benjamin.loppin@univ-lyon1.fr" |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.cub.2016.12.012 |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1879-0445 (Electronic) 0960-9822 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Wolbachia are widespread endosymbiotic bacteria found in terrestrial arthropods and filarial nematodes [1]. In insects, Wolbachia generally rely on diverse strategies to manipulate their host's reproduction and favor their own vertical transmission through infected eggs [2]. One such mechanism is a sterility syndrome called 'cytoplasmic incompatibility'. Cytoplasmic incompatibility occurs at fertilization, when a spermatozoon from a Wolbachia-infected male fertilizes an uninfected egg. In this case, sperm-derived chromosomes fail to separate normally at the first zygotic division, thus preventing the development of a diploid embryo [3]. Moreover, the presence of Wolbachia in females rescues the integration of paternal chromosomes in the zygote and allows the development of a viable, infected individual. Although the molecular basis of cytoplasmic incompatibility is still unknown, a current model implies the existence of Wolbachia-induced reversible modifications on sperm DNA or chromatin that must be eliminated or neutralized shortly after fertilization by rescuing Wolbachia factors present in infected eggs [4]. In a recent Current Biology paper [5], Stephanie Pontier and Francois Schweisguth recently challenged this model by proposing that Wolbachia perturbs a pheromone-based communication between male and female pupae in Drosophila melanogaster and Drosophila simulans, which controls the 'compatibility range' of male and female gametes. However, we fail to detect any influence of pupal communication on cytoplasmic incompatibility in Drosophila simulans as well as in the parasitoid wasp Nasonia vitripennis. Our results thus question the robustness of their model" |
| Keywords: | Animals Cytoplasm Drosophila Drosophila melanogaster Female Male Pupa *Wolbachia; |
| Notes: | "MedlineJacquet, Angelo Horard, Beatrice Loppin, Benjamin eng Comment Letter England 2017/01/25 Curr Biol. 2017 Jan 23; 27(2):R53-R55. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2016.12.012" |
