title: Wolbachia prophage DNA adenine methyltransferase genes in different Drosophila-Wolbachia associations.
abstract: Wolbachia is an obligatory intracellular bacterium which often manipulates the reproduction of its insect and isopod hosts. In contrast, Wolbachia is an essential symbiont in filarial nematodes. Lately, Wolbachia has been implicated in genomic imprinting of host DNA through cytosine methylation. The importance of DNA methylation in cell fate and biology calls for in depth studying of putative methylation-related genes. We present a molecular and phylogenetic analysis of a putative DNA adenine methyltransferase encoded by a prophage in the Wolbachia genome. Two slightly different copies of the gene, met1 and met2, exhibit a different distribution over various Wolbachia strains. The met2 gene is present in the majority of strains, in wAu, however, it contains a frameshift caused by a 2 bp deletion. Phylogenetic analysis of the met2 DNA sequences suggests a long association of the gene with the Wolbachia host strains. In addition, our analysis provides evidence for previously unnoticed multiple infections, the detection of which is critical for the molecular elucidation of modification and/or rescue mechanism of cytoplasmic incompatibility.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental and Natural Resources Management, University of Ioannina, Agrinio, Greece.
authors.forename: Aggeliki
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Saridaki
authors.forename: Panagiotis
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sapountzis
authors.forename: Harriet L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.forename: Philip D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Batista
authors.forename: Jennifer A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Biliske
authors.forename: Harris
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Pavlikaki
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Oehler
authors.forename: Charalambos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Savakis
authors.forename: Henk R
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Braig
authors.forename: Kostas
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bourtzis
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D004330:Drosophila / Q000382:microbiology*; D005814:Genes, Viral / Q000235:genetics*; D016680:Genome, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016366:Open Reading Frames / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D039002:Prophages / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D015265:Site-Specific DNA-Methyltransferase (Adenine-Specific) / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D020577:Wolbachia / Q000235:genetics / Q000821:virology*
chemical_list: D015265:Site-Specific DNA-Methyltransferase (Adenine-Specific)