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Enhancing Nanos expression via the bacterial TomO protein is a conserved strategy used by the symbiont Wolbachia to fuel germ stem cell maintenance in infected Drosophila females
Author(s) -
Ote Manabu,
Yamamoto Daisuke
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
archives of insect biochemistry and physiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.576
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1520-6327
pISSN - 0739-4462
DOI - 10.1002/arch.21471
Subject(s) - biology , wolbachia , drosophila melanogaster , mutant , genetics , rna binding protein , housefly , gene , germ cell , microbiology and biotechnology , rna , botany , musca , larva
The toxic manipulator of oogenesis (TomO) protein has been identified in the w Mel strain of Wolbachia that symbioses with the vinegar fly Drosophila melanogaster , as a protein that affects host reproduction. TomO protects germ stem cells (GSCs) from degeneration, which otherwise occurs in ovaries of host females that are mutant for the gene Sex‐lethal ( Sxl ). We isolated the TomO homologs from w Pip, a Wolbachia strain from the mosquito Culex quinquefasciatus . One of the homologs, TomO w Pip 1, exerted the GSC rescue activity in fly Sxl mutants when lacking its hydrophobic stretches. The GSC‐rescuing action of the TomO w Pip 1 variant was ascribable to its abilities to associate with Nanos ( nos ) mRNA and to enhance Nos protein expression. The analysis of structure–activity relationships with TomO homologs and TomO deletion variants revealed distinct modules in the protein that are each dedicated to different functions, i.e., subcellular localization, nos mRNA binding or Nos expression enhancement. We propose that modular reshuffling is the basis for structural and functional diversification of TomO protein members.