Male-Killing Spiroplasma Alters Behavior of the Dosage Compensation Complex during Drosophila melanogaster Embryogenesis.

ABSTRACT: Numerous arthropods harbor maternally transmitted bacteria that induce the preferential death of males [1-7]. This sex-specific lethality benefits the bacteria because males are "dead ends" regarding bacterial transmission, and their absence may result in additional resources for their viable female siblings who can thereby more successfully transmit the bacteria [5]. Although these symbionts disrupt a range of developmental processes [8-10], the underlying cellular mechanisms are largely unknown. It was previously shown that mutations in genes of the dosage compensation pathway of Drosophila melanogaster suppressed male killing caused by the bacterium, Spiroplasma [10]. This result suggested that dosage compensation is a target of Spiroplasma. However, it remains unclear how this pathway

SUBMITTER: Cheng B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4879104 | biostudies-literature | 2016 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature