Insight into the transmission biology and species-specific functional capabilities of tsetse (Diptera: glossinidae) obligate symbiont Wigglesworthia.

ABSTRACT:

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Ancient endosymbionts have been associated with extreme genome structural stability with little differentiation in gene inventory between sister species. Tsetse flies (Diptera: Glossinidae) harbor an obligate endosymbiont, Wigglesworthia, which has coevolved with the Glossina radiation. We report on the ~720-kb Wigglesworthia genome and its associated plasmid from Glossina morsitans morsitans and compare them to those of the symbiont from Glossina brevipalpis. While there was overall high synteny between the two genomes, a large inversion was noted. Furthermore, symbiont transcriptional analyses demonstrated host tissue and development-specific gene expression supporting robust transcriptional regulation in Wigglesworthia, an unprecedented observation in other obligate m

SUBMITTER: Rio RV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3280448 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature