Male-killing toxin in a bacterial symbiont of Drosophila.

ABSTRACT: Several lineages of symbiotic bacteria in insects selfishly manipulate host reproduction to spread in a population ¹ , often by distorting host sex ratios. Spiroplasma poulsonii^2,3 is a helical and motile, Gram-positive symbiotic bacterium that resides in a wide range of Drosophila species ⁴ . A notable feature of S. poulsonii is male killing, whereby the sons of infected female hosts are selectively killed during development^1,2. Although male killing caused by S. poulsonii has been studied since the 1950s, its underlying mechanism is unknown. Here we identify an S. poulsonii protein, designated Spaid, whose expression induces male killing. Overexpression of Spaid in D. melanogaster kills males but not females, and induces massive apoptosis and n

SUBMITTER: Harumoto T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5969570 | biostudies-literature | 2018 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature