Accidental genetic engineers: horizontal sequence transfer from parasitoid wasps to their Lepidopteran hosts.

ABSTRACT: We show here that 105 regions in two Lepidoptera genomes appear to derive from horizontally transferred wasp DNA. We experimentally verified the presence of two of these sequences in a diverse set of silkworm (Bombyx mori) genomes. We hypothesize that these horizontal transfers are made possible by the unusual strategy many parasitoid wasps employ of injecting hosts with endosymbiotic polydnaviruses to minimize the host's defense response. Because these virus-like particles deliver wasp DNA to the cells of the host, there has been much interest in whether genetic information can be permanently transferred from the wasp to the host. Two transferred sequences code for a BEN domain, known to be associated with polydnaviruses and transcriptional regulation. These findings represent the first d

SUBMITTER: Schneider SE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4190172 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature