Mechanisms Governing Wolbachia Replication and Germline Transmission

智力价值动物通常与细菌和其他微生物密切相关。最亲密的形式是驻留在宿主细胞内的内共生细菌。被广泛接受的线粒体细菌起源说明了内共生体在动物进化中发挥的关键作用。在细菌内共生菌中，沃尔巴克氏菌与宿主之间的相互作用是最成功的之一。沃尔巴克氏菌是一种革兰氏阴性细菌，存在于全世界70%以上的昆虫物种以及大量的线虫中。由于沃尔巴克氏菌在雌性生殖器官中复制和集中，并有效地传递到卵子，它们具有惊人的能力，可以通过未受感染的昆虫种群迅速传播。目前，关于沃尔巴克氏菌是如何在雌性生殖系中复制和集中的知之甚少。因此，本项目的研究旨在准确确定昆虫生殖细胞中与沃尔巴克氏菌相互作用的分子成分，以促进它们的传播。这些研究的一个令人兴奋的方面是，它们提供了沃尔巴克氏菌在整个昆虫群落中全球传播的分子理解。更广泛的影响这个项目建立在遗传学和细胞生物学课程上教授的材料和概念上，因此非常适合本科生和研究生。这项研究依赖于果蝇模型系统，该系统拥有丰富的公开可用的遗传工具，从而提供了相对较快成功产生结果的机会，这对那些刚刚开始研究生涯的人来说是如此重要。在进行这些项目的同时，学生们还将熟练使用许多可用的广泛的果蝇分子和基因数据库。此外，大规模基因组功能筛选是该项目的关键部分，涉及使用新开发的技术，包括机器人和自动显微镜。这为那些在生物技术行业寻求职业生涯的人以及学者提供了极好的培训。虽然技术要求很高，但专注的学生可以变得非常熟练，能够在几个月内生成出版质量的数据。在实验室里，每个本科生都与一名高级研究生或博士后研究员配对。这是产生有价值的本科项目和熟练的日常指导的理想选择，同时让研究生和博士后研究员有机会在更大的研究范围内监督学生，作为他们培训的一部分。沃尔巴克氏菌也引起了农业界的极大兴趣，作为以杀虫剂为基础的昆虫根除计划的替代方案。出于这个原因，罕见的毒力沃尔巴克氏菌菌株引起了相当大的兴奋。为了鉴定更多的毒力菌株，我们依靠本科生从野生种群中收集和分析感染沃尔巴克氏菌的果蝇。这些研究为学生提供了了解沃尔巴克氏菌-宿主相互作用的细胞生物学与它们对昆虫种群的影响之间的联系的机会。除了正在进行的常规课程外，夏季还会为少数族裔本科生开设为期一周的强化课程，其中包括分子生物学以及在Big Creek野外研究站进行露营和昆虫采集，以识别新的沃尔巴克氏菌菌株。

Intellectual MeritAnimals often live in close association with bacteria and other microbes. The most intimate form occurs with endosymbiotic bacteria which reside inside the cells of its host. The widely accepted bacterial origin of mitochondria illustrates the key role endosymbionts have played in animal evolution. Among bacterial endosymbionts, the interaction between Wolbachia and their hosts is one of the most successful. Wolbachia are gram-negative bacteria present worldwide in over 70% of all insect species as well as numerous nematodes. Because Wolbachia replicate and concentrate in the female reproductive organs and are efficiently passed to the eggs, they have an amazing ability to rapidly spread through uninfected insect populations. Currently little is known about how Wolbachia replicate and concentrate in the female germline. Therefore the research in this project is aimed to precisely define the molecular components in the insect reproductive cells that interact with Wolbachia to facilitate their transmission. An exciting aspect of these studies is that they provide a molecular understanding of the global spread of Wolbachia throughout insect communities. Broader ImpactsThis project is built on material and concepts that are taught in genetics and cell biology classes and is therefore well suited for undergraduates and graduate students. The research relies on the Drosophila model system, which has abundant publicly available genetic tools, thus providing opportunities for relatively quick success in generating results, which is so important for those just beginning their research career. While pursuing these projects, the students will also become proficient at using many of the extensive Drosophila molecular and genetic databases available. In addition, large-scale genomic functional screens are a key part of this project and involve the use of newly developed technology, including robotics and automated microscopy. This provides excellent training for those pursuing careers in the biotech industry as well as academics. While technically demanding, a dedicated student can become very adept and able to generate publishing-quality data within a couple of months. In the laboratory, each undergraduate is paired with a senior graduate student or post-doctoral fellow. This is ideal to produce rewarding undergraduate projects with skilled daily supervision while giving the graduate students and postdoctoral fellows the chance to supervise students as a part of their training within the larger scope of their research. Wolbachia is also of tremendous interest to the agricultural community as an alternative to pesticide-based insect eradication programs. For this reason, rare virulent Wolbachia strains have generated considerable excitement. To identify additional virulent strains, we rely on undergraduates to collect and analyze Wolbachia-infected Drosophila from wild populations. These studies provide opportunities for students to understand the connection between the cell biology of Wolbachia-host interactions and their effect on insect populations. In addition to ongoing regular classes, an intensive one-week course for minority undergraduate students is taught in the summer that includes molecular biology as well as camping and insect collections at the Big Creek field research station in order to identify new Wolbachia strains.