| 1. |
- Andersson, Siv G E, et al.
(författare)
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Comparative genomics of microbial pathogens and symbionts.
- 2002
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Ingår i: Bioinformatics. - 1367-4803 .- 1367-4811. ; 18 Suppl 2, s. S17-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We are interested in quantifying the contribution of gene acquisition, loss, expansion and rearrangements to the evolution of microbial genomes. Here, we discuss factors influencing microbial genome divergence based on pair-wise genome comparisons of closely related strains and species with different lifestyles. A particular focus is on intracellular pathogens and symbionts of the genera Rickettsia, Bartonella and BUCHNERA: Extensive gene loss and restricted access to phage and plasmid pools may provide an explanation for why single host pathogens are normally less successful than multihost pathogens. We note that species-specific genes tend to be shorter than orthologous genes, suggesting that a fraction of these may represent fossil-orfs, as also supported by multiple sequence alignments among species. The results of our genome comparisons are placed in the context of phylogenomic analyses of alpha and gamma proteobacteria. We highlight artefacts caused by different rates and patterns of mutations, suggesting that atypical phylogenetic placements can not a priori be taken as evidence for horizontal gene transfer events. The flexibility in genome structure among free-living microbes contrasts with the extreme stability observed for the small genomes of aphid endosymbionts, in which no rearrangements or inflow of genetic material have occurred during the past 50 millions years (1). Taken together, the results suggest that genomic stability correlate with the content of repeated sequences and mobile genetic elements, and thereby indirectly with bacterial lifestyles.
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| 2. |
- Baiao, Guilherme Costa, 1984-, et al.
(författare)
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Comparative Genomics Reveals Factors Associated with Phenotypic Expression of Wolbachia
- 2021
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Ingår i: Genome Biology and Evolution. - : Oxford University Press. - 1759-6653 .- 1759-6653. ; 13:7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Wolbachia is a widespread, vertically transmitted bacterial endosymbiont known for manipulating arthropod reproduction. Its most common form of reproductive manipulation is cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI), observed when a modification in the male sperm leads to embryonic lethality unless a compatible rescue factor is present in the female egg. CI attracts scientific attention due to its implications for host speciation and in the use of Wolbachia for controlling vector-borne diseases. However, our understanding of CI is complicated by the complexity of the phenotype, whose expression depends on both symbiont and host factors. In the present study, we perform a comparative analysis of nine complete Wolbachia genomes with known CI properties in the same genetic host background, Drosophila simulans STC. We describe genetic differences between closely related strains and uncover evidence that phages and other mobile elements contribute to the rapid evolution of both genomes and phenotypes of Wolbachia. Additionally, we identify both known and novel genes associated with the modification and rescue functions of CI. We combine our observations with published phenotypic information and discuss how variability in cif genes, novel CI-associated genes, and Wolbachia titer might contribute to poorly understood aspects of CI such as strength and bidirectional incompatibility. We speculate that high titer CI strains could be better at invading new hosts already infected with a CI Wolbachia, due to a higher rescue potential, and suggest that titer might thus be a relevant parameter to consider for future strategies using CI Wolbachia in biological control.
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| 3. |
- Baiao, Guilherme Costa, et al.
(författare)
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Differential gene expression in semispecies and hybrids of Drosophila paulistorum
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Gene expression divergence is correlated with and can be either a cause or a consequence of species divergence. Studying gene expression differences between closely related species, and their hybrid offspring, can thus give us clues about genes and mechanisms associated with reproductive isolation (RI) between them and allow us to better understand early stages of speciation. In this study, we use RNA-Seq to investigate gene expression divergence between the Amazonian, Centro-American and Orinocan semispecies of Drosophila paulistorum, a species cluster in statu nascendi, and between inter-semispecies hybrids and their parents. We uncover a large number of genes with varying expression between semispecies, with the highest numbers in male abdomens. The differentially expressed genes are associated with a range of biological functions, but especially with broad, regulatory functions, that are governed by transcription, translation, post-translational modifications and induced by signal transduction. We found that the expression pattern of hybrids was much more similar to the maternal line and that very few genes have a different expression than both of their parents. When comparing the differentially expressed genes in semispecies and hybrids to gene affected by Wolbachia in D. paulistorum, we see a small overlap. However, especially in hybrids, some of the overlapping genes appear to be highly relevant. Our study provides insights about expression differences associated with RI in D. paulistorum, and the impact of Wolbachia on the divergence of semispecies and hybrid sterility.
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| 4. |
- Baião, Guilherme Costa, 1984-
(författare)
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Genomic and transcriptomic investigation of reproductive incompatibility in Drosophila
- 2020
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Both nuclear and cytoplasmic elements can contribute to the emergence of reproductive incompatibilities that influence evolution and speciation. In the projects that compose this thesis, we use genomics and transcriptomics to study some of those elements in Drosophila.In the first study, we show that Wolbachia, an endosymbiotic bacterium known to cause reproductive alterations in its hosts, influences gene expression in D. paulistorum. Affected genes were associated with biological functions such as metabolism, immunity, reproduction, and chemical communication. Our results indicate that Wolbachia accentuates the differences in expression profiles between semispecies and suggest that the symbiont influences host pre-and postmating isolation. In the second paper, we uncover widespread persistent heteroplasmy in D. paulistorum. We reveal that D. paulistorum mitochondria are polyphyletic, with two divergent mitotypes, and that the heteroplasmy likely originated through introgression. One of the mitotypes shows biparental inheritance, non-responsiveness to host energy demands and rapid titer increase in the early embryo. We hypothesize that such selfish traits evolved in response to competition between mitotypes.In the third project, we show that differentially expressed genes between D. paulistorum semispecies are associated with a variety of biological processes, especially broad regulatory functions that occur via variability in transcription, translation and ubiquitination of post-translational modification. We reveal that the expression profile of F1 inter-semispecies hybrids is markedly similar to that of the maternal line, and that Wolbachia has a small but potentially significant interaction with genes that are differentially expressed in semispecies and F1 hybrids.Finally, we use comparative genomics to study the evolution of closely related Wolbachia strains with known reproductive phenotypes. We confirm previous observations that Wolbachia genomes are very dynamic and that phage-associated regions are particularly variable and likely involved in horizontal transfer of genes linked to reproductive phenotypes. An in-depth screen for genetic elements potentially involved in Wolbachia-induced cytoplasmic incompatibility recovers genes previously known to be involved in the phenotype and novel candidates.In conclusion, this thesis contributes to our understanding of genetic factors that affect Drosophila evolution, particularly those leading to reproductive incompatibility in D. paulistorum and associated with Wolbachia.
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| 5. |
- Baiao, Guilherme Costa, 1984-, et al.
(författare)
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Multiple introgressions shape mitochondrial evolutionary history in Drosophila paulistorum and the Drosophila willistoni group
- 2023
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Ingår i: Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. - : Elsevier. - 1055-7903 .- 1095-9513. ; 180
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Hybridization and the consequent introgression of genomic elements is an important source of genetic diversity for biological lineages. This is particularly evident in young clades in which hybrid incompatibilities are still incomplete and mixing between species is more likely to occur. Drosophila paulistorum, a representative of the Neotropical Drosophila willistoni subgroup, is a classic model of incipient speciation. The species is divided into six semispecies that show varying degrees of pre-and post-mating incompatibility with each other. In the present study, we investigate the mitochondrial evolutionary history of D. paulistorum and the willistoni subgroup. For that, we perform phylogenetic and comparative analyses of the complete mitochondrial genomes and draft nuclear assemblies of 25 Drosophila lines of the willistoni and saltans species groups. Our results show that the mitochondria of D. paulistorum are polyphyletic and form two non-sister clades that we name alpha and beta. Identi-fication and analyses of nuclear mitochondrial insertions further reveal that the willistoni subgroup has an alpha-like mitochondrial ancestor and strongly suggest that both the alpha and beta mitochondria of D. paulistorum were acquired through introgression from unknown fly lineages of the willistoni subgroup. We also uncover multiple mito-chondrial introgressions across D. paulistorum semispecies and generate novel insight into the evolution of the species.
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| 6. |
- Baiao, Guilherme Costa, et al.
(författare)
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Persistence of high-level heteroplasmy through biparental transmission of a selfish mitochondrion in Drosophila paulistorum
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Heteroplasmy, or the coexistence of multiple mitotypes in an individual, has during recent years been shown to be more common in animals than previously anticipated. However, cases of stable, high-titer heteroplasmy are still relatively rare, as are systems with consistent paternal mitochondrial inheritance. In this study, we sequenced and assembled the full mitochondrial genomes of 23 Neotropical Drosophila lines belonging to six species of the willistoni group and three of the saltans group and discovered that 40% the 13 sequenced Drosophila paulistorum lines, are persistently heteroplasmic. We further showed that the mitochondria of D. paulistorum are polyphyletic, forming two clades, a and b, and that mitochondria of the a2 clade are exclusively found in heteroplasmic flies. Genomic analysis indicates that a2 is a functional mitochondrion, with no signs of loss of function mutations. Even so, our results demonstrate that a2 displays unusual features, including lack of titer response to energetic demands, higher titer in males than females, and consistent biparental transmission due to rapid replication during early embryo development. Together these features indicate that a2 might be a selfish mitochondrion that persists due to efficient biparental transmission.Using the assembled genomes, we reconstructed the evolutionary history of mitochondria in the willistoni subgroup and identified signs of multiple mitochondrial losses, gains and introgressions. The data indicated an a-like mitochondrial ancestor in the willistoni subgroup, with the b mitochondrion likely being acquired through introgression from an unidentified donor. We hypothesize that the selfish characteristics of a2 might have emerged as a response to competition for inheritance with the introgressed b
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| 7. |
- Baiao, Guilherme Costa, et al.
(författare)
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The effect of Wolbachia on gene expression in Drosophila paulistorum and its implications for symbiont-induced host speciation
- 2019
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Ingår i: BMC Genomics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1471-2164. ; 20
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: The Neotropical fruit fly Drosophila paulistorum (Diptera: Drosophilidae) is a species complex in statu nascendi comprising six reproductively isolated semispecies, each harboring mutualistic Wolbachia strains. Although wild type flies of each semispecies are isolated from the others by both pre- and postmating incompatibilities, mating between semispecies and successful offspring development can be achieved once flies are treated with antibiotics to reduce Wolbachia titer. Here we use RNA-seq to study the impact of Wolbachia on D. paulistorum and investigate the hypothesis that the symbiont may play a role in host speciation. For that goal, we analyze samples of heads and abdomens of both sexes of the Amazonian, Centro American and Orinocan semispecies of D. paulistorum.Results: We identify between 175 and 1192 differentially expressed genes associated with a variety of biological processes that respond either globally or according to tissue, sex or condition in the three semispecies. Some of the functions associated with differentially expressed genes are known to be affected by Wolbachia in other species, such as metabolism and immunity, whereas others represent putative novel phenotypes involving muscular functions, pheromone signaling, and visual perception.Conclusions: Our results show that Wolbachia affect a large number of biological functions in D. paulistorum, particularly when present in high titer. We suggest that the significant metabolic impact of the infection on the host may cause several of the other putative and observed phenotypes. We also speculate that the observed differential expression of genes associated with chemical communication and reproduction may be associated with the emergence of pre- and postmating barriers between semispecies, which supports a role for Wolbachia in the speciation of D. paulistorum.
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| 8. |
- Ellegaard, Kirsten Maren, et al.
(författare)
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Comparative Genomics of Wolbachia and the Bacterial Species Concept
- 2013
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Ingår i: PLOS Genetics. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1553-7390 .- 1553-7404. ; 9:4, s. e1003381-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The importance of host-specialization to speciation processes in obligate host-associated bacteria is well known, as is also the ability of recombination to generate cohesion in bacterial populations. However, whether divergent strains of highly recombining intracellular bacteria, such as Wolbachia, can maintain their genetic distinctness when infecting the same host is not known. We first developed a protocol for the genome sequencing of uncultivable endosymbionts. Using this method, we have sequenced the complete genomes of the Wolbachia strains wHa and wNo, which occur as natural double infections in Drosophila simulans populations on the Seychelles and in New Caledonia. Taxonomically, wHa belong to supergroup A and wNo to supergroup B. A comparative genomics study including additional strains supported the supergroup classification scheme and revealed 24 and 33 group-specific genes, putatively involved in host-adaptation processes. Recombination frequencies were high for strains of the same supergroup despite different host-preference patterns, leading to genomic cohesion. The inferred recombination fragments for strains of different supergroups were of short sizes, and the genomes of the co-infecting Wolbachia strains wHa and wNo were not more similar to each other and did not share more genes than other A- and B-group strains that infect different hosts. We conclude that Wolbachia strains of supergroup A and B represent genetically distinct clades, and that strains of different supergroups can co-exist in the same arthropod host without converging into the same species. This suggests that the supergroups are irreversibly separated and that barriers other than host-specialization are able to maintain distinct clades in recombining endosymbiont populations. Acquiring a good knowledge of the barriers to genetic exchange in Wolbachia will advance our understanding of how endosymbiont communities are constructed from vertically and horizontally transmitted genes.
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| 9. |
- Ellegaard, Kirsten Maren, et al.
(författare)
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Testing the Reproducibility of Multiple Displacement Amplification on Genomes of Clonal Endosymbiont Populations
- 2013
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 8:11, s. e82319-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The multiple displacement amplification method has revolutionized genomic studies of uncultured bacteria, where the extraction of pure DNA in sufficient quantity for next-generation sequencing is challenging. However, the method is problematic in that it amplifies the target DNA unevenly, induces the formation of chimeric reads and also amplifies contaminating DNA. Here, we have tested the reproducibility of the multiple displacement amplification method using serial dilutions of extracted genomic DNA and intact cells from the cultured endosymbiont Bartonella australis. The amplified DNA was sequenced with the Illumina sequencing technology, and the results were compared to sequence data obtained from unamplified DNA in this study as well as from a previously published genome project. We show that artifacts such as the extent of the amplification bias, the percentage of chimeric reads and the relative fraction of contaminating DNA increase dramatically for the smallest amounts of template DNA. The pattern of read coverage was reproducibly obtained for samples with higher amounts of template DNA, suggesting that the bias is non-random and genome-specific. A re-analysis of previously published sequence data obtained after amplification from clonal endosymbiont populations confirmed these predictions. We conclude that many of the artifacts associated with the use of the multiple displacement amplification method can be alleviated or much reduced by using multiple cells as the template for the amplification. These findings should be particularly useful for researchers studying the genomes of endosymbionts and other uncultured bacteria, for which a small clonal population of cells can be isolated.
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| 10. |
- Gottlieb, Yuval, et al.
(författare)
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Distinctive Genome Reduction Rates Revealed by Genomic Analyses of Two Coxiella-Like Endosymbionts in Ticks
- 2015
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Ingår i: Genome Biology and Evolution. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1759-6653 .- 1759-6653. ; 7:6, s. 1779-1796
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Genome reduction is a hallmark of symbiotic genomes, and the rate and patterns of gene loss associated with this process have been investigated in several different symbiotic systems. However, in long-term host-associated coevolving symbiont clades, the genome size differences between strains are normally quite small and hence patterns of large-scale genome reduction can only be inferred from distant relatives. Here we present the complete genome of a Coxiella-like symbiont from Rhipicephalus turanicus ticks (CRt), and compare it with other genomes from the genus Coxiella in order to investigate the process of genome reduction in a genus consisting of intracellular host-associated bacteria with variable genome sizes. The 1.7-Mb CRt genome is larger than the genomes of most obligate mutualists but has a very low protein-coding content (48.5%) and an extremely high number of identifiable pseudogenes, indicating that it is currently undergoing genome reduction. Analysis of encoded functions suggests that CRt is an obligate tick mutualist, as indicated by the possible provisioning of the tick with biotin (B7), riboflavin (B2) and other cofactors, and by the loss of most genes involved in host cell interactions, such as secretion systems. Comparative analyses between CRt and the 2.5 times smaller genome of Coxiella from the lonestar tick Amblyomma americanum (CLEAA) show that many of the same gene functions are lost and suggest that the large size difference might be due to a higher rate of genome evolution in CLEAA generated by the loss of the mismatch repair genes mutSL. Finally, sequence polymorphisms in the CRt population sampled from field collected ticks reveal up to one distinct strain variant per tick, and analyses of mutational patterns within the population suggest that selection might be acting on synonymous sites. The CRt genome is an extreme example of a symbiont genome caught in the act of genome reduction, and the comparison between CLEAA and CRt indicates that losses of particular genes early on in this process can potentially greatly influence the speed of this process.
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