Abstract
Wolbachia are alpha-proteobacteria known to infect arthropods, which are of interest for disease control since they have been associated with improved resistance to viral infection. Although several genomes for different strains have been sequenced, there is little knowledge regarding the relationship between this bacterium and their hosts, particularly on their dependency for survival. Motivated by the potential applications on disease control, we developed genome-scale models of four Wolbachia strains known to infect arthropods: wAlbB (Aedes albopictus), wVitA (Nasonia vitripennis), wMel and wMelPop (Drosophila melanogaster). The obtained metabolic reconstructions exhibit a metabolism relying mainly on amino acids for energy production and biomass synthesis. A gap analysis was performed to detect metabolic candidates which could explain the endosymbiotic nature of this bacterium, finding that amino acids, requirements for ubiquinone precursors and provisioning of metabolites such as riboflavin could play a crucial role in this relationship. This work provides a systems biology perspective for studying the relationship of Wolbachia with its host and the development of new approaches for control of the spread of arboviral diseases. This approach, where metabolic gaps are key objects of study instead of just additions to complete a model, could be applied to other endosymbiotic bacteria of interest.
Highlights
IntroductionWolbachia are obligate intracellular alpha-proteobacteria, member of the Rickettsiales order known to infect nematodes and arthropods by developing diverse complex interactions with their hosts, such as supplementation with vitamins, cytoplasmic incompatibility and parthenogenesis [1,2,3,4]
Wolbachia are obligate intracellular alpha-proteobacteria, member of the Rickettsiales order known to infect nematodes and arthropods by developing diverse complex interactions with their hosts, such as supplementation with vitamins, cytoplasmic incompatibility and parthenogenesis [1,2,3,4].The nature of these interactions is influenced by the strain and organism involved and they have been reviewed extensively [4]
The obtained composition was modified based on DNA and amino acid composition and updated fatty acid content based on reported concentration of phospholipids in Wolbachia, Rickettsia and Escherichia coli [16,17,18,19]
Summary
Wolbachia are obligate intracellular alpha-proteobacteria, member of the Rickettsiales order known to infect nematodes and arthropods by developing diverse complex interactions with their hosts, such as supplementation with vitamins, cytoplasmic incompatibility and parthenogenesis [1,2,3,4]. The nature of these interactions is influenced by the strain and organism involved and they have been reviewed extensively [4]. Wolbachia has shown to impart a fitness advantage to arthropod host such as better reproductive traits or improved resistance to virus infection [5]. Genomes of several Wolbachia strains have been sequenced [8,10,11,12] and comparatively analyzed [8] in order to explain host-symbiont features of interest such as cytoplasmic incompatibility
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