AI Article Synopsis
- Horizontal gene transfer has significantly impacted microbial evolution, and this study explores its role in animals, specifically vinegar flies and aphids.
- The research identifies the transfer of the cdtB gene, associated with bacterial toxins, into the genomes of these insects, linking these genes to bacteriophage that affect symbiotic bacteria in aphids.
- Findings suggest that cdtB is actively expressed during vulnerable life stages in these insects and may provide a defense mechanism against natural predators.
Article Abstract
Horizontal gene transfer events have played a major role in the evolution of microbial species, but their importance in animals is less clear. Here, we report horizontal gene transfer of cytolethal distending toxin B (cdtB), prokaryotic genes encoding eukaryote-targeting DNase I toxins, into the genomes of vinegar flies (Diptera: Drosophilidae) and aphids (Hemiptera: Aphididae). We found insect-encoded cdtB genes are most closely related to orthologs from bacteriophage that infect Candidatus Hamiltonella defensa, a bacterial mutualistic symbiont of aphids that confers resistance to parasitoid wasps. In drosophilids, cdtB orthologs are highly expressed during the parasitoid-prone larval stage and encode a protein with ancestral DNase activity. We show that cdtB has been domesticated by diverse insects and hypothesize that it functions in defense against their natural enemies.
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| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6759069 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msz146 | DOI Listing |
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