<i>In situ</i> architecture of the endosymbiont <i>Wolbachia pipientis</i>.

ABSTRACT: Hidden within host cells, the endosymbiont Wolbachia pipientis is the most prevalent bacterial infection in the animal kingdom. Scientific breakthroughs over the past century yielded fundamental mechanisms by which Wolbachia controls arthropod reproduction to shape dynamic ecological and evolutionary trajectories. However, the structure and spatial organization of symbiont machineries that underpin intracellular colonization and orchestrate maternal inheritance remain unknown. Here, we used cryo-electron tomography to directly image the nanoscale architecture of bacterial tools deployed for host manipulation and germline transmission. We discovered that Wolbachia assembles multiple structures at the host-endosymbiont interface including a filamentous ladder-like framew

SUBMITTER: Pujhari S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12407924 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature