We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Horizontal Transfer of Bacterial Cytolethal Distending Toxin B Genes to Insects.
- Authors
Verster, Kirsten I; Wisecaver, Jennifer H; Karageorgi, Marianthi; Duncan, Rebecca P; Gloss, Andrew D; Armstrong, Ellie E; Price, Donald K; Menon, Aruna R; Ali, Zainab M; Whiteman, Noah K
- 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.
- Publication
Molecular Biology & Evolution, 2019, Vol 36, Issue 10, p2105
- ISSN
0737-4038
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1093/molbev/msz146