The origin of intraspecific variation of virulence in an eukaryotic immune suppressive parasite.
Occurrence of intraspecific variation in parasite virulence, a prerequisite for coevolution of hosts and parasites, has largely been reported. However, surprisingly little is known of the molecular bases of this variation in eukaryotic parasites, with the exception of the antigenic variation used by immune-evading parasites of mammals. The present work aims to address this question in immune suppressive eukaryotic parasites. In Leptopilina boulardi, a parasitic wasp of Drosophila melanogaster, well-defined virulent and avirulent strains have been characterized. The success of virulent females is due to a major immune suppressive factor, LbGAP, a RacGAP protein present in the venom and injected into the host at oviposition. Here, we show that an homologous protein, named LbGAPy, is present in the venom of the avirulent strain. We then question whether the difference in virulence between strains originates from qualitative or quantitative differences in LbGAP and LbGAPy proteins. Results show that the recombinant LbGAPy protein has an in vitro GAP activity equivalent to that of recombinant LbGAP and similarly targets Drosophila Rac1 and Rac2 GTPases. In contrast, a much higher level of both mRNA and protein is found in venom-producing tissues of virulent parasitoids. The F1 offspring between virulent and avirulent strains show an intermediate level of LbGAP in their venom but a full success of parasitism. Interestingly, they express almost exclusively the virulent LbGAP allele in venom-producing tissues. Altogether, our results demonstrate that the major virulence factor in the wasp L. boulardi differs only quantitatively between virulent and avirulent strains, and suggest the existence of a threshold effect of this molecule on parasitoid virulence. We propose that regulation of gene expression might be a major mechanism at the origin of intraspecific variation of virulence in immune suppressive eukaryotic parasites. Understanding this variation would improve our knowledge of the mechanisms of transcriptional evolution currently under active investigation.
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Sophia Antipolis, France. dominique.colinet@sophia.inra.fr
Dominique
D
Colinet
Antonin
A
Schmitz
Dominique
D
Cazes
Jean-Luc
JL
Gatti
Marylène
M
Poirié
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000469:parasitology*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005260:Female; D020690:GTPase-Activating Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D007299:Insect Bites and Stings / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000469:parasitology; D007814:Larva / Q000502:physiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D020798:Two-Hybrid System Techniques; D014774:Virulence / Q000502:physiology*; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014862:Wasp Venoms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D014863:Wasps / Q000502:physiology*; D020744:rac GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D020690:GTPase-Activating Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D037521:Virulence Factors; D014862:Wasp Venoms; D020744:rac GTP-Binding Proteins