Horizontal Transfer of Bacterial Cytolethal Distending Toxin B Genes to Insects
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
6-25-2019
Publication Title
Molecular Biology and Evolution
Volume
36
Issue
10
First page number:
2105
Last page number:
2110
Abstract
Horizontal gene transfer events have played a major role in the evolution of microbial species, but their importance in animals is less clear. Here, we report horizontal gene transfer of cytolethal distending toxin B (cdtB), prokaryotic genes encoding eukaryote-targeting DNase I toxins, into the genomes of vinegar flies (Diptera: Drosophilidae) and aphids (Hemiptera: Aphididae). We found insect-encoded cdtB genes are most closely related to orthologs from bacteriophage that infect Candidatus Hamiltonella defensa, a bacterial mutualistic symbiont of aphids that confers resistance to parasitoid wasps. In drosophilids, cdtB orthologs are highly expressed during the parasitoid-prone larval stage and encode a protein with ancestral DNase activity. We show that cdtB has been domesticated by diverse insects and hypothesize that it functions in defense against their natural enemies.
Keywords
Horizontal gene transfer; Cytolethal distending toxin; Aphids; Drosophila; DNase
Disciplines
Entomology | Genetics and Genomics
Language
English
Repository Citation
Verster, K. I.,
Wisecaver, J. H.,
Karageorgi, M.,
Duncan, R. P.,
Gloss, A. D.,
Armstrong, E. E.,
Price, D. K.,
Menon, A. R.,
Ali, Z. M.,
Whiteman, N. K.
(2019).
Horizontal Transfer of Bacterial Cytolethal Distending Toxin B Genes to Insects.
Molecular Biology and Evolution, 36(10),
2105-2110.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msz146