Virus-mediated change in clumping properties ofDrosophila SR spiroplasmas

Preliminary Characterization of Phage-Like Particles from the Male-Killing Mollicute Spiroplasma poulsonii (an Endosymbiont of Drosophila)

Bacteriophages are vastly abundant, diverse, and influential, but with few exceptions (e.g. the Proteobacteria genera Wolbachia and Hamiltonella), the role of phages in heritable bacteria-arthropod interactions, which are ubiquitous and diverse, remains largely unexplored. Despite prior studies documenting phage-like particles in the mollicute Spiroplasma associated with Drosophila flies, genomic sequences of such phage are lacking, and their effects on the Spiroplasma-Drosophila interaction have not been comprehensively characterized. We used a density step gradient to isolate phage-like particles from the male-killing bacterium Spiroplasma poulsonii (strains NSRO and MSRO-Br) harbored by Drosophila melanogaster. Isolated particles were subjected to DNA sequencing, assembly, and annotation. Several lines of evidence suggest that we recovered phage-like particles of similar features (shape, size, DNA content) to those previously reported in Drosophila-associated Spiroplasma strains. We recovered three ~ 19 kb phage-like contigs (two in NSRO and one in MSRO-Br) containing 21-24 open reading frames, a read-alignment pattern consistent with circular permutation, and terminal redundancy (at least in NSRO). Although our results do not allow us to distinguish whether these phage-like contigs represent infective phage-like particles capable of transmitting their DNA to new hosts, their encoding of several typical phage genes suggests that they are at least remnants of functional phage. We also recovered two smaller non-phage-like contigs encoding a known Spiroplasma toxin (Ribosome Inactivating Protein; RIP), and an insertion element, suggesting that they are packaged into particles. Substantial homology of our particle-derived contigs was found in the genome assemblies of members of the Spiroplasma poulsonii clade.

THE INTERACTION PHENOTYPE IN THE DROSOPHILA WILLISTONI-SPIROPLASMA SYMBIOSIS

Both the population and coevolutionary dynamics of hereditary male-lethal endosymbionts, found in a wide range of insect species, depend on host fitness and endosymbiont transmission rates. This paper reports on fitness effects and transmission rates in three lines of Drosophila willistoni infected with either male-lethal spiroplasmas or a spontaneous nonmale-lethal mutant. Overall fitness measures were reduced or unaffected by the infection; however, some infected females produced more offspring in early broods. Maternal transmission rates were high, but imperfect, and varied with a female's age, host line, and spiroplasma type. No evidence for paternal or horizontal transmission was found. If an altered temporal pattern of reproduction is not a factor in countering the loss of spiroplasma hosts through imperfect maternal transmission, persistence of this endoparasitism remains unexplained. Tolerance of the infection and ability to transmit bacteria varied with both host and spiroplasma line. Analysis of the interaction between the spontaneous nonmale-lethal mutant and its host suggests this symbiosis has undergone coevolution under laboratory culture.

Complete genomes of two dipteran-associated spiroplasmas provided insights into the origin, dynamics, and impacts of viral invasion in spiroplasma

Spiroplasma is a genus of wall-less, low-GC, Gram-positive bacteria with helical morphology. As commensals or pathogens of plants, insects, ticks, or crustaceans, they are closely related with mycoplasmas and form a monophyletic group (Spiroplasma–Entomoplasmataceae–Mycoides) with Mycoplasma mycoides and its relatives. In this study, we report the complete genome sequences of Spiroplasma chrysopicola and S. syrphidicola from the Chrysopicola clade. These species form the sister group to the Citri clade, which includes several well-known pathogenic spiroplasmas. Surprisingly, these two newly available genomes from the Chrysopicola clade contain no plectroviral genes, which were found to be highly repetitive in the previously sequenced genomes from the Citri clade. Based on the genome alignment and patterns of GC-skew, these two Chrysopicola genomes appear to be relatively stable, rather than being highly rearranged as those from the Citri clade. Phylogenetic analyses suggest that the susceptibility to plectroviral invasion probably originated in the common ancestor of the Citri clade or one of its subclades. This susceptibility may be attributed to the absence of antiviral systems found in the Chrysopicola clade. Using the virus-free genomes of the Chrysopicola clade as references, we inferred the putative viral integration sites in the Citri genomes. Comparisons of syntenic regions suggest that the extensive viral invasion in the Citri clade promoted genome rearrangements and expansions. More importantly, the viral invasion may have facilitated horizontal gene transfers that contributed to adaptation in the Citri clade.

Mycoplasma viruses

Unlike bacterial viruses that infect cells bounded by a cell wall, mycoplasma viruses have evolved to enter and propagate in mycoplasma cells bounded only by a single lipid-protein cell membrane. In addition, mycoplasmas have the smallest amount of genetic information of any known cells, so their complexity is constrained by a limited genetic coding capacity. As a consequence of these host cell differences, mycoplasma viruses have been found to have a variety of structures and replication strategies which are different from those of the bacterial viruses. This article is a critical review of mycoplasma viruses infecting the genera Acholeplasma, Spiroplasma, and Mycoplasma; included are data on classification, morphology and structure, biological and physical properties, chemical composition, and productive and lysogenic replication cycles.