Exploration of molecular mechanisms underlying the interaction between host insects and symbiotic bacteria and development of basic technology for the application

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Some spiroplasmas cause female-biased sex ratios of their host insects including Drosophila fruit flies, as a result of selective death of the male offspring during embryogenesis. In this study, three closely related bacteriophages were isolated from two male-killing spiroplasmas and a non-male-killing one, and their whole genome sequences were determined. Each phage genome included five sequences with similarity to putative virulence genes of closely related spiroplasma. In general, density dynamics of the three phages showed different pattern. The expression levels of a gene were about 10 times higher in adult flies infected with male-killing spiroplasma than in those infected with non-male-killing one.