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opencc-zeroDec 2017View details →

Data from: Facultative bacterial endosymbionts shape parasitoid food webs in natural host populations: a correlative analysis

1.Facultative bacterial endosymbionts can protect their aphid hosts from natural enemies such as hymenopteran parasitoids. As such, they have the capability to modulate interactions between aphids, parasitoids and hyperparasitoids. However, the magnitude of these effects in natural aphid populations and their associated parasitoid communities is currently unknown. Moreover, environmental factors such as plant fertilization and landscape complexity are known to affect aphid‐parasitoid interactions but it remains unclear how such environmental factors affect the interplay between aphids, parasitoids and endosymbionts. 2.Here, we tested whether facultative endosymbionts confer protection to parasitoids in natural populations of the English grain aphid, Sitobion avenae, and if this is affected by plant fertilization and landscape complexity. Furthermore, we examined whether the effects of facultative endosymbionts can cascade up to the hyperparasitoid level and increase primary‐hyperparasitoid food web specialization. 3.Living aphids and mummies were collected in fertilized and unfertilized plots within 13 wheat fields in Central Germany. We assessed the occurrence of primary parasitoid, hyperparasitoid and endosymbiont species in aphids and mummies using a newly established molecular approach. 4.Facultative endosymbiont infection rates were high across fields (~80 %), independent of whether aphids were parasitized or un‐parasitized. Aphid mummies exhibited a significantly lower share of facultative endosymbiont infection (~38 %). These findings suggest that facultative endosymbionts do not affect parasitoid oviposition behavior, but decrease parasitoid survival in the host. Facultative endosymbiont infection rates were lower in mummies collected from fertilized compared to unfertilized plants, indicating that plant fertilization boosts the facultative endosymbiont protective effect. Furthermore, we found strong evidence for species‐specific and negative cascading effects of facultative endosymbionts on primary and hyperparasitoids, respectively. Facultative endosymbionts impacted parasitoid assemblages and increased the specialization of primary‐hyperparasitoid food webs: these effects were independent from and much stronger than other environmental factors. 5.The current findings stongly suggest that facultative endosymbionts act as a driving force in aphid‐parasitoid‐hyperparastioid networks: they shape insect community composition at different trophic levels and modulate, directly and indirectly, the interactions between aphids, parasitoids and their environment.

opencc-zeroJun 2019View details →

Data from: Influences of two coexisting endosymbionts, CI-inducing Wolbachia and male-killing Spiroplasma, on the performance of their host Laodelphax striatellus (Hemiptera: Delphacidae)

The small brown planthopper Laodelphax striatellus (Hemiptera: Delphacidae) is reported to have the endosymbiont Wolbachia, which shows a strong cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) between infected males and uninfected females. In the 2000s, female-biased L. striatellus populations were found in Taiwan, and this sex ratio distortion was the result of male-killing induced by the infection of another endosymbiont, Spiroplasma. Spiroplasma infection is considered to negatively affect both L. striatellus and Wolbachia because the male-killing halves the offspring of L. striatellus and hinders the spread of Wolbachia infection via CI. Spiroplasma could have traits that increase the fitness of infected L. striatellus and/or coexisting organisms because the coinfection rates of Wolbachia and Spiroplasma were rather high in some areas. In this study, we investigated the influences of the infection of these two endosymbionts on the development, reproduction and insecticide resistance of L. striatellus in the laboratory. Our results show that the single infection of Spiroplasma had a negative influence on the fertility of L. striatellus, while the double infection state had no significant influence. At late nymphal and adult stages, the abundance of Spiroplasma was lower in the double infection state than in the single infection state. In the double infection state, the reduction of Spiroplasma density may be caused by competition between the two endosymbionts, and the negative influence of Spiroplasma on the fertility of host may be relieved. The resistance of L. striatellus to four insecticides was compared among different infection states of endosymbionts, but Spiroplasma infection did not contribute to increased insecticide resistance. Because positive influences of Spiroplasma infection were not found in terms of the development, reproduction and insecticide resistance of L. striatellus, other factors improving the fitness of Spiroplasma-infected L. striatellus may be related to the high frequency of double infection in some L. striatellus populations.

opencc-zeroDec 2016View details →

Data from: Patterns and mechanisms in instances of endosymbiont-induced parthenogenesis

Female-producing parthenogenesis can be induced by endosymbionts that increase their transmission by manipulating host reproduction. Our literature survey indicates that such endosymbiont-induced parthenogenesis is known or suspected in 124 host species from seven different arthropod taxa, with Wolbachia as the most frequent endosymbiont (in 56-75% of host species). Most host species (81%, 100 out of 124) are characterized by haplo-diploid sex determination, but a strong ascertainment bias likely underestimates the frequency of endosymbiont-induced parthenogenesis in hosts with other sex determination systems. In at least one taxon, hymenopterans, endosymbionts are a significant driver of transitions from sexual to parthenogenetic reproduction, with one third of lineages being parthenogenetic as a consequence of endosymbiont infection. Endosymbiont-induced parthenogenesis appears to facilitate the maintenance of reproductive polymorphism: at least 50% of species comprise both sexual (uninfected) and parthenogenetic (infected) strains. These strains feature distribution differences similar to the ones documented for lineages with genetically determined parthenogenesis, with endosymbioint-induced parthenogens occurring at higher latitudes than their sexual relatives. Finally, although gamete duplication is often considered as the main mechanism for endosymbiont-induced parthenogenesis, it underlies parthenogenesis in only half of the host species studied thus far. We point out caveats in the methods used to test for endosymbiont-induced parthenogenesis and suggest specific approaches that allow for firm conclusions about the involvement of endosymbionts in the origin of parthenogenesis.

opencc-zeroDec 2013View details →

Data from: Multiple endosymbiont infections and reproductive manipulations in a linyphiid spider population

In many arthropods, maternally inherited endosymbiotic bacteria can increase infection frequency by manipulating host reproduction. Multiple infections of different bacteria in a single host population are common, yet few studies have documented concurrent endosymbiont phenotypes or explored their potential interactions. We hypothesized that spiders might be a particularly useful taxon for investigating endosymbiont interactions, because they are host to a plethora of endosymbiotic bacteria and frequently exhibit multiple infections. We established two matrilines from the same population of the linyphiid spider Mermessus fradeorum and then used antibiotic curing and controlled mating assays to demonstrate that each matriline was subject to a distinct endosymbiotic reproductive manipulation. One matriline was co-infected with Rickettsia and Wolbachia and produced offspring with a radical female bias. Antibiotic treatment eliminated both endosymbionts and restored an even sex ratio to subsequent generations. Chromosomal and fecundity observations suggest a feminization mechanism. In the other matriline, a separate factorial mating assay of cured and infected spiders demonstrated strong cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) induced by a different strain of Wolbachia. However, males with this Wolbachia induced only mild CI when mated with the Rickettsia–Wolbachia females. In a subsequent survey of a field population of M. fradeorum, we detected these same three endosymbionts infecting 55% of the spiders in almost all possible combinations, with nearly half of the infected spiders exhibiting multiple infection. Our results suggest that a dynamic network of endosymbionts may interact both within multiply infected hosts and within a population subject to multiple strong reproductive manipulations.

opencc-zeroDec 2011View details →

Data from: Infectious adaptation: potential host range of a defensive endosymbiont in Drosophila

Maternally transmitted symbionts persist over macroevolutionary time scales by undergoing occasional lateral transfer to new host species. To invade a new species, a symbiont must survive and reproduce in the new host, undergo maternal transmission, and confer a selective benefit sufficient to overcome losses due to imperfect maternal transmission. Drosophila neotestacea is naturally infected with a strain of Spiroplasma that restores fertility to nematode-parasitized females, which are otherwise sterilized by parasitism. We experimentally transferred Spiroplasma from D. neotestacea to four other species of mycophagous Drosophila that vary in their ability to resist and/or tolerate nematode parasitism. In all four species, Spiroplasma achieved within-host densities and experienced rates of maternal transmission similar to that in D. neotestacea. Spiroplasma restored fertility to nematode-parasitized females in one of these novel host species. Based on estimates of maternal transmission fidelity and the expected benefit of Spiroplasma infection in the wild, we conclude that Spiroplasma has the potential to spread and become abundant within D. putrida, which is broadly sympatric with D. neotestacea and in which females are rendered completely sterile by nematode parasitism. Thus, a major adaptation within D. putrida could arise via lateral transmission of a heritable symbiont from D. neotestacea.

opencc-zeroDec 2015View details →

Data from: Functional relationship between a dinoflagellate host and its diatom endosymbiont

While we know much about the evolutionary patterns of endosymbiotic organelle origins, we know less about how the actual process unfolded within each system. This is partly due to the massive changes endosymbiosis appears to trigger, and partly because most organelles evolved in the distant past. The dinotoms are dinoflagellates with diatom endosymbionts, and they represent a relatively recent but nevertheless obligate endosymbiotic association. We have carried out deep sequencing of both the host and endosymbiont transcriptomes from two dinotoms, Durinskia baltica and Glenodinium foliaceum, to examine how the nucleocytosolic compartments have functionally integrated. This analysis showed little or no functional reduction in either the endosymbiont or host, and no evidence for genetic integration. Rather, host and endosymbiont seem to be bound to each other via metabolites, such as photosynthate exported from the endosymbiont to the host as indicated by the presence of plastidic phosphate translocators in the host transcriptome. The host is able to synthesize starch, using plant-specific starch synthases, as a way to store imported photosynthate.

Supplementary material 1 from: Paez-Triana L, Herrera G, Vega L, Garcia-Corredor D, Pulido Medellín MO, Paniz-Mondolfi A, Muñoz M, Ramírez JD (2023) Metagenomic exploration of endosymbionts and pathogens in the tropical lineage of Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato (s.l.) ticks in Colombia. Metabarcoding and Metagenomics 7: e109085. https://doi.org/10.3897/mbmg.7.109085

Geographic locations where samples were collected

Supplementary material 15 from: Paez-Triana L, Herrera G, Vega L, Garcia-Corredor D, Pulido Medellín MO, Paniz-Mondolfi A, Muñoz M, Ramírez JD (2023) Metagenomic exploration of endosymbionts and pathogens in the tropical lineage of Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato (s.l.) ticks in Colombia. Metabarcoding and Metagenomics 7: e109085. https://doi.org/10.3897/mbmg.7.109085

Characteristics of each of the metagenomes found and their comparison with available genomes

Supplementary material 4 from: Paez-Triana L, Herrera G, Vega L, Garcia-Corredor D, Pulido Medellín MO, Paniz-Mondolfi A, Muñoz M, Ramírez JD (2023) Metagenomic exploration of endosymbionts and pathogens in the tropical lineage of Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato (s.l.) ticks in Colombia. Metabarcoding and Metagenomics 7: e109085. https://doi.org/10.3897/mbmg.7.109085

Pathogens and endosymbionts present in each tick

Supplementary material 16 from: Paez-Triana L, Herrera G, Vega L, Garcia-Corredor D, Pulido Medellín MO, Paniz-Mondolfi A, Muñoz M, Ramírez JD (2023) Metagenomic exploration of endosymbionts and pathogens in the tropical lineage of Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato (s.l.) ticks in Colombia. Metabarcoding and Metagenomics 7: e109085. https://doi.org/10.3897/mbmg.7.109085

Gene quantity analysis by COG clusters in MAGs, available genomes, and C. burnetii

Supplementary material 8 from: Paez-Triana L, Herrera G, Vega L, Garcia-Corredor D, Pulido Medellín MO, Paniz-Mondolfi A, Muñoz M, Ramírez JD (2023) Metagenomic exploration of endosymbionts and pathogens in the tropical lineage of Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato (s.l.) ticks in Colombia. Metabarcoding and Metagenomics 7: e109085. https://doi.org/10.3897/mbmg.7.109085

Abundance of taxonomy at the genus level within the domains of Bacteria and Archaea

Supplementary material 14 from: Paez-Triana L, Herrera G, Vega L, Garcia-Corredor D, Pulido Medellín MO, Paniz-Mondolfi A, Muñoz M, Ramírez JD (2023) Metagenomic exploration of endosymbionts and pathogens in the tropical lineage of Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato (s.l.) ticks in Colombia. Metabarcoding and Metagenomics 7: e109085. https://doi.org/10.3897/mbmg.7.109085

Relative abundance by sample of resistence marker

Supplementary material 13 from: Paez-Triana L, Herrera G, Vega L, Garcia-Corredor D, Pulido Medellín MO, Paniz-Mondolfi A, Muñoz M, Ramírez JD (2023) Metagenomic exploration of endosymbionts and pathogens in the tropical lineage of Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato (s.l.) ticks in Colombia. Metabarcoding and Metagenomics 7: e109085. https://doi.org/10.3897/mbmg.7.109085

Relative abundance by sample of virulence factors

Supplementary material 2 from: Paez-Triana L, Herrera G, Vega L, Garcia-Corredor D, Pulido Medellín MO, Paniz-Mondolfi A, Muñoz M, Ramírez JD (2023) Metagenomic exploration of endosymbionts and pathogens in the tropical lineage of Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato (s.l.) ticks in Colombia. Metabarcoding and Metagenomics 7: e109085. https://doi.org/10.3897/mbmg.7.109085

Visual representation illustrating the methods utilized in the analysis discussed in the article

Supplementary material 11 from: Paez-Triana L, Herrera G, Vega L, Garcia-Corredor D, Pulido Medellín MO, Paniz-Mondolfi A, Muñoz M, Ramírez JD (2023) Metagenomic exploration of endosymbionts and pathogens in the tropical lineage of Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato (s.l.) ticks in Colombia. Metabarcoding and Metagenomics 7: e109085. https://doi.org/10.3897/mbmg.7.109085

Abundance of taxonomy of endosymbionts and pathogens

Supplementary material 6 from: Paez-Triana L, Herrera G, Vega L, Garcia-Corredor D, Pulido Medellín MO, Paniz-Mondolfi A, Muñoz M, Ramírez JD (2023) Metagenomic exploration of endosymbionts and pathogens in the tropical lineage of Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato (s.l.) ticks in Colombia. Metabarcoding and Metagenomics 7: e109085. https://doi.org/10.3897/mbmg.7.109085

Metadata and metagenomic information of collected samples

Supplementary material 9 from: Paez-Triana L, Herrera G, Vega L, Garcia-Corredor D, Pulido Medellín MO, Paniz-Mondolfi A, Muñoz M, Ramírez JD (2023) Metagenomic exploration of endosymbionts and pathogens in the tropical lineage of Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato (s.l.) ticks in Colombia. Metabarcoding and Metagenomics 7: e109085. https://doi.org/10.3897/mbmg.7.109085

Abundance of taxonomy at the Family level within the domains of Bacteria and Archaea

opencc-by-4.0Jul 2022View details →

Toxin-producing endosymbionts shield pathogenic fungus against micropredators: Supplementary Information Videos

ABSTRACT The fungus Rhizopus microsporus harbours a bacterial endosymbiont (Mycetohabitans rhizoxinica) for the production of the antimitotic toxin rhizoxin. Although rhizoxin is the causative agent of rice seedling blight, the toxinogenic bacterial-fungal alliance is, however, not restricted to the plant disease. It has been detected in numerous environmental isolates from geographically distinct sites covering all five continents, thus raising the question on the ecological role of rhizoxin beyond rice seedling blight. Here we show that rhizoxin serves the fungal host in fending off protozoan and metazoan predators. Fluorescence microscopy and co-culture experiments with the fungivorous amoeba Protostelium aurantium revealed that ingestion of R. microsporus spores is toxic to P. aurantium. This amoebicidal effect is caused by the dominant bacterial rhizoxin congener rhizoxin S2, which is also lethal towards the model nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. By combining stereomicroscopy, automated image analyses, and quantification of nematode movement we show that the fungivorous nematode Aphelenchus avenae actively feeds on R. microsporus that is lacking endosymbionts, while worms co-incubated with symbiotic R. microsporus are significantly less lively. This work uncovers an unexpected ecological role of rhizoxin as shield against micropredators. This finding suggests that predators may function as an evolutionary driving force to maintain toxin-producing endosymbionts in non-pathogenic fungi.   Legends for the Supplementary Information Videos Video S1. Predation of Protostelium aurantium on swollen spores from Rhizopus microsporus. Timelapse movie showing ingestion of a swollen R. microsporus spore (stained with FITC) by P. aurantium. Scale bar: 5 μm. Video S2. Aphelenchus avenae co-incubated with symbiotic Rhizopus microsporus. R. microsporus ATCC62417 was co-incubated with A. avenae for 24 hrs in a micro-channel slide (Ibidi). Time-lapse movie, recorded on a spinning disc microscope, showing dead/unhealthy nematodes. Scale bar: 100 μm. Video S3. Aphelenchus avenae movement after incubation with solvent control (DMSO). Time-lapse movie, recorded on a spinning disc microscope, showing healthy nematodes. Scale bar: 200 μm. Video S4. Aphelenchus avenae movement after incubation with 100 μM rhizoxin S2. Time-lapse movie, recorded on a spinning disc microscope, showing unhealthy nematodes. Scale bar: 200 μm. Video S5. Aphelenchus avenae movement after incubation with 250 μM rhizoxin S2. Time-lapse movie, recorded on a spinning disc microscope, showing dead/unhealthy nematodes. Scale bar: 200 μm. Video S6. Aphelenchus avenae movement after incubation with 500 μM rhizoxin S2. Time-lapse movie, recorded on a spinning disc microscope, showing dead/unhealthy nematodes. Scale bar: 200 μm. Video S7. Aphelenchus avenae movement after incubation with 114 μM ivermectin (positive control). Time-lapse movie, recorded on a spinning disc microscope, showing dead/unhealthy nematodes. Scale bar: 200 μm. Video S8. Segmented worms and their summarized tracks. The segmented worms are shown in white, whereas the worm outlines at each time point are shown in yellow. The time series shows the individual worms per time point, whereas the yellow outlines are superimposed over the entire time series and shown at each time point of the video. Video S9. The segmented worms and their tracks of a time series experiment. The worms and the tracks are shown here as provided by the automated tracking algorithm applied to a time series experiment. The worms are coloured randomly, whereas the tracks (thin lines) are coloured from blue to red for each track, blue corresponding to time zero and red to the final time point. When worms merge, they become of the same colour until they separate again. Video S10. The X component of the per-worm and per time-point velocity vector of each worm as a function of the Y component of the velocity vector. The time series shows the velocity vector components at individual time points, playing from time zero to the final time point. Line colours correspond to the time, whereas the worm colours indicate the area of the worm, see colour scale bars at the bottom of the window. Video S11. A segmented worm and its footprint for LR = 11.5. The orange objects shows the segmented worm at each time point per movie frame, whereas the red area shows the worm's footprint calculated for the entire time series. 14 Video S12. A segmented worm and its footprint for LR = 4.0. The green object corresponds to the segmented worm shown at each time point, the orange area indicates the footprint of this worm, calculated for the entire time series.

opencc-zeroJan 2023View details →

Similar cost of Hamiltonella defensa in experimental and natural aphid-endosymbiont associations

Endosymbiont-conferred resistance to parasitoids is common in aphids, but comes at a cost to the host in the absence of parasitoids. In black bean aphids (Aphis fabae), costs in terms of reduced lifespan and lifetime reproduction were demonstrated by introducing eleven isolates of the protective symbiont Hamiltonella defensa into previously uninfected aphid clones. Transfection of H. defensa isolates into a common genetic background allows to compare the costs of different endosymbiont isolates unconfounded by host genetic variation, but has been suggested to overestimate the realised costs of the endosymbiont in natural populations, because transfection creates new and potentially maladapted host-symbiont combinations that would be eliminated by natural selection in the field. In this experiment, we show that removing H. defensa isolates from their natural host clones with antibiotics results in a fitness gain that is comparable to the fitness loss from their introduction into two new clones. This suggests that cost estimated from transfecting endosymbiont isolates into a shared host genotype does not lead to gross overestimates of their realised costs, at least not in the two recipient genotypes used here. By comparing our data with data reported in previous publications using the same lines, we show that symbiont-induced costs may fluctuate over time. Thus, costs estimated after extended culture in the laboratory may not always be representative of the costs at the time of collection in the field. Finally, we report the accidental observation that two isolates from a distinct haplotype of H. defensa could not be removed by cefotaxime treatment, while all isolates from two other haplotypes were readily eliminated, which is suggestive of variation in susceptibility to this antibiotic in H. defensa.