title: High anti-viral protection without immune upregulation after interspecies Wolbachia transfer.
abstract: Wolbachia, endosymbionts that reside naturally in up to 40-70% of all insect species, are some of the most prevalent intracellular bacteria. Both Wolbachia wAu, naturally associated with Drosophila simulans, and wMel, native to Drosophila melanogaster, have been previously described to protect their hosts against viral infections. wMel transferred to D. simulans was also shown to have a strong antiviral effect. Here we directly compare one of the most protective wMel variants and wAu in D. melanogaster in the same host genetic background. We conclude that wAu protects better against viral infections, it grows exponentially and significantly shortens the lifespan of D. melanogaster. However, there is no difference between wMel and wAu in the expression of selected antimicrobial peptides. Therefore, neither the difference in anti-viral effect nor the life-shortening could be attributed to the immune stimulation by exogenous Wolbachia. Overall, we prove that stable transinfection with a highly protective Wolbachia is not necessarily associated with general immune activation.
authors.affiliation: Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, Oeiras, Portugal.
authors.forename: Ewa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Chrostek
authors.affiliation: Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, Oeiras, Portugal.
authors.forename: Marta S P
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Marialva
authors.affiliation: Department of Metabolism and Aging, The Scripps Research Institute, Jupiter, Florida, United States of America.
authors.forename: Ryuichi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Australia; School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Australia.
authors.forename: Scott L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: O'Neill
authors.affiliation: Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, Oeiras, Portugal.
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Teixeira
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000821:virology*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D008136:Longevity; D010641:Phenotype; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D013559:Symbiosis; D020577:Wolbachia / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology*