title: Detection of the Wolbachia-encoded DNA binding protein, HU beta, in mosquito gonads.
abstract: Wolbachia are obligate intracellular bacteria that cause cytoplasmic incompatibility in mosquitoes. In an incompatible cross, eggs of uninfected females fail to hatch when fertilized by sperm from infected males. We used polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and tandem mass spectrometry to identify Wolbachia proteins in infected mosquito gonads. These included surface proteins with masses of 25 and 18 kDa and the DNA binding protein, HU beta. Using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction, we showed that the HU gene is transcribed in Wolbachia-infected Culex pipiens and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes. We sequenced HU genes from four Wolbachia strains and compared deduced protein sequences with additional homologs from the databases. Among the Rickettsiales, Wolbachia HU has distinct N- and C-terminal basic/acidic amino acid motifs as well as a pair of conserved, cysteine residues.
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA. beckm098@umn.edu
authors.forename: John F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Beckmann
authors.forename: Todd W
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Markowski
authors.forename: Bruce A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Witthuhn
authors.forename: Ann M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Fallon
mesh_terms: D000330:Aedes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000382:microbiology*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism; D003465:Culex / Q000737:chemistry / Q000382:microbiology*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D005260:Female; D006066:Gonads / Q000737:chemistry; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry; D020577:Wolbachia / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C040330:histone-like protein HU, bacteria