The intracellular symbiont <i>Wolbachia</i> alters <i>Drosophila</i> development and metabolism to buffer against nutritional stress.

ABSTRACT: The intracellular bacterium Wolbachia is a common symbiont of many arthropods and nematodes, well studied for its impacts on host reproductive biology. However, its broad success as a vertically transmitted infection cannot be attributed to manipulations of host reproduction alone. Using the Drosophila melanogaster model and their natively associated Wolbachia strain " w Mel", we show that Wolbachia infection supports fly development and buffers against nutritional stress. Wolbachia infection across several fly genotypes and a range of nutrient conditions resulted in reduced pupal mortality, increased adult emergence, and larger size. We determined that the exogenous supplementation of pyrimidines partially rescued developmental phenotypes in the <

SUBMITTER: Lindsey AR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9882369 | biostudies-literature | 2024 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature