Cloning and characterization of a gene encoding the major surface protein of the bacterial endosymbiont Wolbachia pipientis
Cloning and characterization of a gene encoding the major surface protein of the bacterial endosymbiont Wolbachia pipientis
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DOI：
10.1128/jb.180.9.2373-2378.1998
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发表时间：
1998-05-01
影响因子：
3.2
通讯作者：
O'Neill, SL
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Braig, HR;Zhou, WG;O'Neill, SL
Wolbachia pipientis是一种母系遗传的细胞内共生体，它感染多种节肢动物宿主后，可引起多种生殖异常。它与引起细胞质不亲和性、孤雌生殖和不同宿主中遗传配偶的雌性化有关。这种挑剔的细胞内细菌引起这些生殖和发育异常的分子机制尚未确定。本文报道了（i）从感染的果蝇卵中纯化表达量最高的Wolbachia蛋白之一，（ii）随后克隆和鉴定了编码该蛋白的基因（wsp），并在大肠杆菌中成功地测试了wsp启动子区的功能。这种序列变异与某些沃尔巴克氏体菌株诱导或拯救受感染昆虫细胞质不相容表型的能力相关。因此，该基因将是一个非常有用的工具，沃尔巴克氏体菌株分型和系统发育分析，以及了解沃尔巴克氏体与其宿主相互作用的分子基础。
The maternally inherited intracellular symbiont Wolbachia pipientis is well known for inducing a variety of reproductive abnormalities in the diverse arthropod hosts it infects. It has been implicated in causing cytoplasmic incompatibility, parthenogenesis, and the feminization of genetic mates in different hosts. The molecular mechanisms by which this fastidious intracellular bacterium causes these reproductive and developmental abnormalities have not get been determined. In this paper, we report on (i) the purification of one of the most abundantly expressed Wolbachia proteins from infected Drosophila eggs and (ii) the subsequent cloning and characterization of the gene (wsp) that encodes it. The functionality of the wsp promoter region was also successfully tested in Escherichia coli, Comparison of sequences of this gene from different strains of molbachia revealed a high level of variability. This sequence variation correlated with the ability of certain Wolbachia strains to induce or rescue the cytoplasmic incompatibility phenotype in infected insects. As such, this gene will be a very useful tool for Wolbachia strain typing and phylogenetic analysis, as well as understanding the molecular basis of the interaction of Wolbachia with its host.