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Evolutionary origin of insect– Wolbachia nutritional mutualism

2014; National Academy of Sciences; Volume: 111; Issue: 28 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1073/pnas.1409284111

1091-6490

Naruo Nikoh, Takahiro Hosokawa, Minoru Moriyama, Kenshiro Oshima, Masahira Hattori, Takema Fukatsu,

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Significance How sophisticated mutualism has arisen from less-intimate associations is of general interest. Here we address this evolutionary issue by looking into the bedbug. Wolbachia endosymbionts are generally regarded as facultative/parasitic bacterial associates for their insect hosts, but in the bedbug, exceptionally, Wolbachia supports the host’s growth and survival via provisioning of vitamins. In the bedbug’s Wolbachia genome, we identified a gene cluster encoding the complete synthetic pathway for biotin (vitamin B7), which is not present in other Wolbachia genomes and is presumably acquired via lateral transfer from a coinfecting endosymbiont. The Wolbachia -provisioned biotin contributes to the bedbug’s fitness significantly, uncovering an evolutionary transition from facultative symbiosis to obligate mutualism facilitated by lateral gene transfer in the endosymbiont lineage.