Maternal Inheritance of a Single Somatic Animal Cell Displayed by the Bacteriocyte in the Whitefly Bemisia tabaci.

ABSTRACT: Bacteriocytes are insect cells harboring symbiotic bacteria that are required by their insect host and are transmitted vertically via the female ovary [1]. In most insect groups, the bacteria are released from the bacteriocytes and transferred to the ovary [2, 3], but in whiteflies, maternal bacteriocytes migrate to each egg [4-6], where they have been reported to lyse, releasing the symbionts [1]. To investigate bacteriocyte inheritance in whiteflies further, we applied microsatellite genotyping and genomic analysis to a genetically diverse population of Bemisia tabaci, and we observed the fate of the bacteriocyte in embryos. Surprisingly, the microsatellite profile of the bacteriocytes was uniform, and insect cross experiments demonstrated that the bacteriocytes have a stable genotype th

SUBMITTER: Luan J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5807091 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature