Male-killing-associated bacteriophage WO identified from comparisons of Wolbachia endosymbionts of Homona magnanima

• DOI: 10.1101/2022.06.12.495854
• Publication Date: 2022-06-14T04:50:10Z
• Authors: Hiroshi Arai; Hisashi Anbutsu; Yohei Nishikawa; Masato Kogawa; Kazuo Ishii; Masahito Hosokawa; Shiou-Ruei Lin; Masatoshi Ueda; Madoka Nakai; Yasuhisa Kunimi; Toshiyuki Harumoto; Daisuke Kageyama; Haruko Takeyama; Maki N. Inoue
• Keywords: Prophage; Strain (injury)

Abstract The origin and mechanism of male-killing, an advantageous strategy employed by maternally transmitted symbionts such as Wolbachia , remain unclear. We compared genomes four strains derived from Homona magnanima a male-killing strain w Hm-t (1.5 Mb), three non-male-killing strains, Hm-a (1.1 Hm-b (1.3 Hm-c (1.4 Mb). A Hm-t-specific 76-kbp prophage region harboured two tandemly arrayed WO-mediated killing ( wmk ) gene homologs wmk-1 / wmk-2 wmk-3 wmk-4 ). Of these, or killed almost all Drosophila melanogaster individuals when transgenically overexpressed. Dual expression males rescued females. propose novel hypothesis wherein horizontally proto- with single both sexes, tandem duplication allowed evolutionary transition to vertically symbiont, causing male-killing. Our study highlights the bacteriophage critical driver evolution argues for conserved in diverse insects.