Reprograming of epigenetic mechanisms controlling host insect immunity and development in response to egg-laying by a parasitoid wasp.

ABSTRACT: Parasitoids are insects that use other insects as hosts. They sabotage host cellular and humoral defences to promote the survival of their offspring by injecting viruses and venoms along with their eggs. Many pathogens and parasites disrupt host epigenetic mechanisms to overcome immune system defences, and we hypothesized that parasitoids may use the same strategy. We used the ichneumon wasp Pimpla turionellae as a model idiobiont parasitoid to test this hypothesis, with pupae of the greater wax moth Galleria mellonella as the host. We found that parasitoid infestation involves the suppression of host immunity-related effector genes and the modulation of host genes involved in developmental hormone signalling. The transcriptional reprogramming of host genes following the inje

SUBMITTER: Ozbek R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7341927 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature