Wolbachia, normally a symbiont of Drosophila, can be virulent, causing degeneration and early death.

ABSTRACT: Wolbachia, a maternally transmitted microorganism of the Rickettsial family, is known to cause cytoplasmic incompatibility, parthenogenesis, or feminization in various insect species. The bacterium-host relationship is usually symbiotic: incompatibility between infected males and uninfected females can enhance reproductive isolation and evolution, whereas the other mechanisms enhance progeny production. We have discovered a variant Wolbachia carried by Drosophila melanogaster in which this cozy relationship is abrogated. Although quiescent during the fly's development, it begins massive proliferation in the adult, causing widespread degeneration of tissues, including brain, retina, and muscle, culminating in early death. Tetracycline treatment of carrier flies eliminates both the bacteria

SUBMITTER: Min KT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC23488 | biostudies-literature | 1997 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature