scholarly journals Rapid and Differential Evolution of the Venom Composition of a Parasitoid Wasp Depending on the Host Strain

Toxins ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 629 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cavigliasso ◽  
Mathé-Hubert ◽  
Kremmer ◽  
Rebuf ◽  
Gatti ◽  
...  

Parasitoid wasps rely primarily on venom to suppress the immune response and regulate the physiology of their host. Intraspecific variability of venom protein composition has been documented in some species, but its evolutionary potential is poorly understood. We performed an experimental evolution initiated with the crosses of two lines of Leptopilina boulardi of different venom composition to generate variability and create new combinations of venom factors. The offspring were maintained for 10 generations on two strains of Drosophila melanogaster differing in resistance/susceptibility to the parental parasitoid lines. The venom composition of individuals was characterized by a semi-automatic analysis of 1D SDS-PAGE electrophoresis protein profiles whose accuracy was checked by Western blot analysis of well-characterized venom proteins. Results made evident a rapid and differential evolution of the venom composition on both hosts and showed that the proteins beneficial on one host can be costly on the other. Overall, we demonstrated the capacity of rapid evolution of the venom composition in parasitoid wasps, important regulators of arthropod populations, suggesting a potential for adaptation to new hosts. Our approach also proved relevant in identifying, among the diversity of venom proteins, those possibly involved in parasitism success and whose role deserves to be deepened.

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fanny Cavigliasso ◽  
Hugo Mathé-Hubert ◽  
Laurent Kremmer ◽  
Christian Rebuf ◽  
Jean-Luc Gatti ◽  
...  

AbstractParasitoid wasps rely primarily on venom to suppress the immune response and regulate the physiology of their host. Intraspecific variability of venom protein composition has been documented in some species, but its evolutionary potential is poorly understood. We performed an experimental evolution initiated with crosses of two lines of Leptopilina boulardi of different venom composition to generate variability and create new combinations of venom factors. The offspring were maintained for 10 generations on two strains of Drosophila melanogaster differing in resistance / susceptibility to the parasitoid lines. The venom composition of individuals was characterized by a semi-automatic analysis of 1D SDS-PAGE protein profiles whose accuracy was checked by Western blot analysis of well-characterized venom proteins. Results evidenced a rapid and differential evolution of the venom composition on both hosts and showed that the proteins beneficial on one host can be costly on the other. Overall, we demonstrated the capacity of rapid evolution of the venom composition in parasitoid wasps, important regulators of arthropod populations, suggesting a potential for adaptation to new hosts. Our approach also proved relevant in identifying, among the diversity of venom proteins, those possibly involved in parasitism success and whose role deserves to be deepened.Key ContributionThe venom protein composition of parasitoid wasps can evolve rapidly and differently depending on the host strain. Studying this evolution can help identify new venom proteins possibly involved in parasitism success on a given host.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fanny Cavigliasso ◽  
Hugo Mathé-Hubert ◽  
Jean-Luc Gatti ◽  
Dominique Colinet ◽  
Marylène Poirié

AbstractFemale endoparasitoid wasps usually inject venom into hosts to suppress their immune response and ensure offspring development. However, the parasitoid’s ability to evolve towards increased success on a given host simultaneously with the evolution of the composition of its venom has never been demonstrated. Here, we designed an experimental evolution to address this question. We crossed two parasitoid lines of Leptopilina boulardi differing both in parasitic success on different Drosophila hosts and venom composition. F2 descendants were reared on three different Drosophila species for nine generations. We tested for evolution of parasitic success over the generations and for the capacity of parasitoids selected on a given host to succeed on another host. We also tested whether the venom composition - analyzed on the basis of the variation in intensity of the venom protein bands on SDS-PAGE 1D - evolved in response to different host species. Results showed a specialization of the parasitoids on their selection host and a rapid and differential evolution of the venom composition according to the host. Overall, data suggest a high potential for parasitoids to adapt to a new host, which may have important consequences in the field as well in the context of biological control.


Toxins ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 659 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard B. Schonour ◽  
Emma M. Huff ◽  
Matthew L. Holding ◽  
Natalie M. Claunch ◽  
Schyler A. Ellsworth ◽  
...  

Ontogenetic shifts in venom occur in many snakes but establishing their nature as gradual or discrete processes required additional study. We profiled shifts in venom expression from the neonate to adult sizes of two rattlesnake species, the eastern diamondback and the timber rattlesnake. We used serial sampling and venom chromatographic profiling to test if ontogenetic change occurs gradually or discretely. We found evidence for gradual shifts in overall venom composition in six of eight snakes, which sometimes spanned more than two years. Most chromatographic peaks shift gradually, but one quarter shift in a discrete fashion. Analysis of published diet data showed gradual shifts in overall diet composition across the range of body sizes attained by our eight study animals, while the shifts in abundance of different prey classes varied in form from gradual to discrete. Testosterone concentrations were correlated with the change in venom protein composition, but the relationship is not strong enough to suggest causation. Venom research employing simple juvenile versus adult size thresholds may be failing to account for continuous variation in venom composition lifespan. Our results imply that venom shifts represent adaptive matches to dietary shifts and highlight venom for studies of alternative gene regulatory mechanisms.


Pathogens ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 49
Author(s):  
Jordann E. Trainor ◽  
Pooja KR ◽  
Nathan T. Mortimer

The interactions between Drosophila melanogaster and the parasitoid wasps that infect Drosophila species provide an important model for understanding host–parasite relationships. Following parasitoid infection, D. melanogaster larvae mount a response in which immune cells (hemocytes) form a capsule around the wasp egg, which then melanizes, leading to death of the parasitoid. Previous studies have found that host hemocyte load; the number of hemocytes available for the encapsulation response; and the production of lamellocytes, an infection induced hemocyte type, are major determinants of host resistance. Parasitoids have evolved various virulence mechanisms to overcome the immune response of the D. melanogaster host, including both active immune suppression by venom proteins and passive immune evasive mechanisms. We identified a previously undescribed parasitoid species, Asobara sp. AsDen, which utilizes an active virulence mechanism to infect D. melanogaster hosts. Asobara sp. AsDen infection inhibits host hemocyte expression of msn, a member of the JNK signaling pathway, which plays a role in lamellocyte production. Asobara sp. AsDen infection restricts the production of lamellocytes as assayed by hemocyte cell morphology and altered msn expression. Our findings suggest that Asobara sp. AsDen infection alters host signaling to suppress immunity.


Toxins ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 112
Author(s):  
Bianca op den Brouw ◽  
Francisco C. P. Coimbra ◽  
Lachlan A. Bourke ◽  
Tam Minh Huynh ◽  
Danielle H. W. Vlecken ◽  
...  

Snakes of the genera Pseudocerastes and Eristicophis (Viperidae: Viperinae) are known as the desert vipers due to their association with the arid environments of the Middle East. These species have received limited research attention and little is known about their venom or ecology. In this study, a comprehensive analysis of desert viper venoms was conducted by visualising the venom proteomes via gel electrophoresis and assessing the crude venoms for their cytotoxic, haemotoxic, and neurotoxic properties. Plasmas sourced from human, toad, and chicken were used as models to assess possible prey-linked venom activity. The venoms demonstrated substantial divergence in composition and bioactivity across all experiments. Pseudocerastes urarachnoides venom activated human coagulation factors X and prothrombin and demonstrated potent procoagulant activity in human, toad, and chicken plasmas, in stark contrast to the potent neurotoxic venom of P. fieldi. The venom of E. macmahonii also induced coagulation, though this did not appear to be via the activation of factor X or prothrombin. The coagulant properties of P. fieldi and P. persicus venoms varied among plasmas, demonstrating strong anticoagulant activity in the amphibian and human plasmas but no significant effect in that of bird. This is conjectured to reflect prey-specific toxin activity, though further ecological studies are required to confirm any dietary associations. This study reinforces the notion that phylogenetic relatedness of snakes cannot readily predict venom protein composition or function. The significant venom variation between these species raises serious concerns regarding antivenom paraspecificity. Future assessment of antivenom is crucial.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shimaa A. M. Ebrahim ◽  
Gaëlle J. S. Talross ◽  
John R. Carlson

AbstractParasitoid wasps inflict widespread death upon the insect world. Hundreds of thousands of parasitoid wasp species kill a vast range of insect species. Insects have evolved defensive responses to the threat of wasps, some cellular and some behavioral. Here we find an unexpected response of adult Drosophila to the presence of certain parasitoid wasps: accelerated mating behavior. Flies exposed to certain wasp species begin mating more quickly. The effect is mediated via changes in the behavior of the female fly and depends on visual perception. The sight of wasps induces the dramatic upregulation in the fly nervous system of a gene that encodes a 41-amino acid micropeptide. Mutational analysis reveals that the gene is essential to the behavioral response of the fly. Our work provides a foundation for further exploration of how the activation of visual circuits by the sight of a wasp alters both sexual behavior and gene expression.


BMC Genomics ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominique Colinet ◽  
Caroline Anselme ◽  
Emeline Deleury ◽  
Donato Mancini ◽  
Julie Poulain ◽  
...  

2014 ◽  
Vol 104 (3) ◽  
pp. 307-313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Tsutsui ◽  
K. Maeto ◽  
K. Hamaguchi ◽  
Y. Isaki ◽  
Y. Takami ◽  
...  

AbstractAlthough apomixis is the most common form of parthenogenesis in diplodiploid arthropods, it is uncommon in the haplodiploid insect order Hymenoptera. We found a new type of spontaneous apomixis in the Hymenoptera, completely lacking meiosis and the expulsion of polar bodies in egg maturation division, on the thelytokous strain of a parasitoid waspMeteorus pulchricornis(Wesmael) (Braconidae, Euphorinae) on pest lepidopteran larvaeSpodoptera litura(Fabricius) (Noctuidae). The absence of the meiotic process was consistent with a non-segregation pattern in the offspring of heterozygous females, and no positive evidence was obtained for the induction of thelytoky by any bacterial symbionts. We discuss the conditions that enable the occurrence of such rare cases of apomictic thelytoky in the Hymenoptera, suggesting the significance of fixed heterosis caused by hybridization or polyploidization, symbiosis with bacterial agents, and occasional sex. Our finding will encourage further genetic studies on parasitoid wasps to use asexual lines more wisely for biological control.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordann E. Trainor ◽  
KR Pooja ◽  
Nathan T. Mortimer

AbstractThe interactions between Drosophila melanogaster and the parasitoid wasps that infect Drosophila species provide an important model for understanding host-parasite relationships. Following parasitoid infection, D. melanogaster larvae mount a response in which immune cells (hemocytes) form a capsule around the wasp egg, which then melanizes leading to death of the parasitoid. Previous studies have found that host hemocyte load, the number of hemocytes available for the encapsulation response, and the production of lamellocytes, an infection induced hemocyte type, are major determinants of host resistance. Parasitoids have evolved various virulence mechanisms to overcome the immune response of the D. melanogaster host, including both active immune suppression by venom proteins and passive immune evasive mechanisms. We find that a previously undescribed parasitoid species, Asobara sp. AsDen, utilizes an active virulence mechanism to infect D. melanogaster hosts. Asobara sp. AsDen infection inhibits host hemocyte expression of msn, a member of the JNK signaling pathway, which plays a role in lamellocyte production. Asobara sp. AsDen infection restricts the production of lamellocytes as assayed by hemocyte cell morphology and altered msn expression. Our findings suggest that Asobara sp. AsDen venom targets host signaling to suppress immunity.DeclarationsFundingThis work was supported by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R35GM133760.Availability of data and materialSequence data has been deposited in GenBank under accession # MT498809. Custom BLAST databases are available on request to corresponding author.Authors’ contributionsConceived of or designed study: J.E.T., N.T.M.; Performed research: J.E.T., P.K.; Analyzed data: J.E.T., P.K., N.T.M.; Wrote the paper: J.E.T., P.K., N.T.M.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
T Jeffrey Cole ◽  
Michael S Brewer

In the era of Next-Generation Sequencing and shotgun proteomics, the sequences of animal toxigenic proteins are being generated at rates exceeding the pace of traditional means for empirical toxicity verification. To facilitate the automation of toxin identification from protein sequences, we trained Recurrent Neural Networks with Gated Recurrent Units on publicly available datasets. The resulting models are available via the novel software package TOXIFY, allowing users to infer the probability of a given protein sequence being a venom protein. TOXIFY is more than 20X faster and uses over an order of magnitude less memory than previously published methods. Additionally, TOXIFY is more accurate, precise, and sensitive at classifying venom proteins. Availability: https://www.github.com/tijeco/toxify


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document