« Previous AbstractMale mouse urine extract effects on pheromonally mediated reproductive functions of female mice    Next AbstractInclusive fitness benefits of scent-marking predators »

Nat Commun

Title:		Bacterial endosymbionts influence host sexuality and reveal reproductive genes of early divergent fungi
Author(s):		Mondo SJ; Lastovetsky OA; Gaspar ML; Schwardt NH; Barber CC; Riley R; Sun H; Grigoriev IV; Pawlowska TE;
Address:		"School of Integrative Plant Science, Plant Pathology and Plant Microbe-Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA. US DOE Joint Genome Institute, Walnut Creek, CA, 94598, USA. Graduate Field of Microbiology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA. Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA. Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA. School of Integrative Plant Science, Plant Pathology and Plant Microbe-Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA. tep8@cornell.edu"
Journal Title:		Nat Commun
Year:		2017
Volume:		20171129
Issue:		1
Page Number:		1843 -
DOI:		10.1038/s41467-017-02052-8
ISSN/ISBN:		2041-1723 (Electronic) 2041-1723 (Linking)
Abstract:		"Many heritable mutualisms, in which beneficial symbionts are transmitted vertically between host generations, originate as antagonisms with parasite dispersal constrained by the host. Only after the parasite gains control over its transmission is the symbiosis expected to transition from antagonism to mutualism. Here, we explore this prediction in the mutualism between the fungus Rhizopus microsporus (Rm, Mucoromycotina) and a beta-proteobacterium Burkholderia, which controls host asexual reproduction. We show that reproductive addiction of Rm to endobacteria extends to mating, and is mediated by the symbiont gaining transcriptional control of the fungal ras2 gene, which encodes a GTPase central to fungal reproductive development. We also discover candidate G-protein-coupled receptors for the perception of trisporic acids, mating pheromones unique to Mucoromycotina. Our results demonstrate that regulating host asexual proliferation and modifying its sexual reproduction are sufficient for the symbiont's control of its own transmission, needed for antagonism-to-mutualism transition in heritable symbioses. These properties establish the Rm-Burkholderia symbiosis as a powerful system for identifying reproductive genes in Mucoromycotina"
Keywords:		"Burkholderia/*physiology Fungal Proteins/*genetics *Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal Gene Regulatory Networks Mycorrhizae/genetics Phylogeny Reproduction, Asexual/genetics/physiology Rhizopus/genetics/*physiology Spores, Fungal/physiology Symbiosis/*gen;"
Notes:		"MedlineMondo, Stephen J Lastovetsky, Olga A Gaspar, Maria L Schwardt, Nicole H Barber, Colin C Riley, Robert Sun, Hui Grigoriev, Igor V Pawlowska, Teresa E eng F32 GM019629/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ R01 GM019629/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ R37 GM019629/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S. England 2017/12/01 Nat Commun. 2017 Nov 29; 8(1):1843. doi: 10.1038/s41467-017-02052-8"