A niche for Wolbachia.
Wolbachia are endosymbionts of arthropods and filarial nematodes. Arthropods infected with these endobacteria display altered reproductive phenotypes, including cytoplasmic incompatibility and sex-ratio distortion. In nematodes, the endobacteria are essential for embryogenesis and worm survival. Wolbachia are transmitted vertically from mother to progeny, and Frydman et al. recently showed that, after transfer to uninfected Drosophila, Wolbachia rapidly accumulate in the somatic stem cell niche. From this location, the endobacteria might enter the developing oocytes and infect the progeny.
Pfarr
Kenneth M
KM
Institute for Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology, University Clinic Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Strasse 25, Bonn D-53105, Germany. pfarr@parasit.meb.uni-bonn.de
Hoerauf
Achim
A
D000818:Animals; D001181:Arthropods / Q000382:microbiology*; D004330:Drosophila / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D009348:Nematoda / Q000382:microbiology*; D010641:Phenotype; D013559:Symbiosis; D020577:Wolbachia / Q000502:physiology*