Project description:Using microarray-based comparative genome hybridizations (mCGH), the genomic content of Wolbachia pipientis wMel from Drosophila melanogaster was compared to the Wolbachia from D. innubila (wInn), D. santomea (wSan), and three strains from D. simulans (wAu, wRi, wSim).
Project description:Wolbachia pipientis are maternally transmitted endosymbiotic bacteria commonly found in arthropods and nematodes. These bacteria manipulate reproduction of the host to increase their transmission using mechanisms, such as cytoplasmic incompatibility, that favor infected female offspring. The underlying mechanisms of reproductive manipulation by W. pipientis continue to be the subject of ongoing research. Interestingly, W. pipientis infection partially rescues female fertility in flies containing hypomorphic mutations of bag of marbles (bam) in D. melanogaster, which functions in germline stem cell (GSC) maintenance and differentiation. Our RNA-seq analysis using the W. pipientis infected relative to uninfected bam hypomorph genotype showed differential expression for many of bam’s genetic and physical interactors. The bam hypomorph showed enrichment of ubiquitination and histone lysine methylation genes, some of which have fertility rescue by W. pipientis when knocked down in the WT genotype. Our results show that W. pipientis interacts with ubiquitination and histone lysine methylation genes which could be integral to the bam hypomorph fertility rescue.