Endosymbiont DNA in Endobacteria-Free Filarial Nematodes Indicates Ancient Horizontal Genetic Transfer

2010124 citationsJournal Articlegold Open Access

Authors

Samantha N. McNulty · Washington University in St. Louis

Jeremy M. Foster · New England Biolabs (United States)

Makedonka Mitreva · Washington University in St. Louis

Julie C. Dunning Hotopp · University of Maryland, Baltimore

John Martin · Washington University in St. Louis

Kerstin Fischer · Washington University in St. Louis

Bo Wu

Abstract

These results strongly suggest that the last common ancestor of extant filarial nematodes was infected with Wolbachia and that this former endosymbiont contributed to their genome evolution. Horizontally transferred Wolbachia DNA may explain the ability of some filarial species to live and reproduce without the endosymbiont while other species cannot.

Topics & Keywords

Parasitic Diseases Research and Treatment Insect symbiosis and bacterial influences Nematode management and characterization studies

UN Sustainable Development Goals

Life in Land

Publication Details

Published in: PLoS ONE

Volume 5, Issue 6, pp. e11029-e11029

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0011029

Field-Weighted Citation Impact: 8.10