Interorder transfer of mycoplasma-like microorganisms between Drosophila paulistorum and Ephestia kuehniella: Tissues, dosages, and effects

Gottlieb, Frederick Jay; Goitein, Ruth; Inocencio, B.

doi:10.1016/0022-2011(77)90211-7

Cited by 11 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…The entomopathogen described here, DpLE, was encountered in experiments designed to isolate the infectious male sterilant microorganism from D. paulistorum. Earlier transinfection studies with Ephestia (Gottlieb et al, 1977) had suggested that the lepidopteran pathogen and the causative Streptococcal L-form (Somerson et al, 1984) were the same organism but the data from the present study demonstrate that this is not the case. The bacterium passaged in Heliothis hosts was bacilliform and not a Streptococcus as determined by electron microscopy and 16S rDNA analyses.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 96%

“…Attempts to cultivate the microorganism were unsuccessful until it was discovered that larvae of a surrogate host, Ephestia kuehniella, were capable of supporting the growth of a bacterium introduced via infectious injections of D. paulistorum tissue extracts (Gottlieb et al, 1977). These infections resulted in the death of their lepidopteran hosts.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These infections resulted in the death of their lepidopteran hosts. This bacterium, which was not characterized further, was assumed to be the male sterilizing agent since infected Ephestia hemolymph reinoculated into Drosophila hosts resulted in some sterility among F1 male progeny (Gottlieb et al, 1977). Koch's postulates were subsequently completely met with the cultivation of a fastidious cell wall-deficient bacterium (a Streptococcal L-form) from D. paulistorum testes, a microorganism which was transmissible and caused complete sterility in the male progeny of artificially infected females incompatible semispecies (Somerson et al, 1984).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Bacterial Entomopathogens from the Drosophila paulistorum Semispecies Complex

Miller

Campbell²,

Becnel³

1995

Journal of Invertebrate Pathology

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 96%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Bacterial Entomopathogens from the Drosophila paulistorum Semispecies Complex

Miller

Campbell²,

Becnel³

1995

Journal of Invertebrate Pathology

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“…In our earlier studies, the host range of the sterility producing agent had been extended to larvae of Ephestia kuehniella, the Mediterranean meal moth (5). Studies in this alternate host suggested that the agent was most likely a cell wall-deficient microbe, perhaps a mycoplasma or similar organism (1).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Streptococcal L-forms isolated from Drosophila paulistorum semispecies cause sterility in male progeny.

Somerson¹,

Kocka²,

Gottlieb³

1984

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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The Drosophila paulistorum complex contains six semispecies that do not normally interbreed. In the laboratory, crosses between semispecies produce fertile daughters and sterile sons. Microbial endosymbionts have been observed in all D. paulistorum flies that display this male sterility.Streptococcal L-forms have been isolated from the AndeanBrazilian (Mesitas) and Transitional (Santa Marta) semispecies and cultured in artificial medium. Transfer of these Lforms from their native hosts into reciprocal semispecies resuited in sterile male progeny. When L-forms were inoculated into the semispecies from which they had been isolated, most of the male progeny were fertile. Control streptococcal Lforms did not show this sterility pattern.The term "semispecies" refers to subgroups derived from a single species and implies that the process of speciation is in progress. The six semispecies constituting the neotropical Drosophila paulistorum complex have been separated and designated by their geographical distribution. In nature these semispecies do not normally interbreed (Fig. la), but among hybrids produced in the laboratory, the males are sterile and the females are fertile (Fig. lb). When these hybrid females are backcrossed to males of either parental semispecies, their male progeny are still sterile and their female progeny are fertile (2).Factors responsible for this sterility can be artificially transmitted (3). When extracts of male flies from one semispecies were injected into females of another, the male progeny from these females were sterile. Similarly, if the extracts injected were of hybrid males that had a mother of a different semispecies than that of the recipient females, the same sterility pattern occurred (Fig. lc).Electron microscopy has revealed that all semispecies of the D. paulistorum complex contain cytoplasmic endosymbionts (2, 4)-i.e., each member harbors a semispeciesspecific symbiont with which it coexists. A hybrid fly inherits its chromosomes from both parents. It inherits its cytoplasmic endosymbiont only from its mother. The transmissibility of sterility by injection can be explained as a result of the transfer of an endosymbiont from its native semispecies to a different one. For example, in Fig. 1 b and c, the endosymbiont a contained in semispecies A (and in the extract of sterile hybrid males), when passed by mating or injection into females of semispecies B (containing symbiont 0), causes sterility of the male progeny.In our earlier studies, the host range of the sterility producing agent had been extended to larvae of Ephestia kuehniella, the Mediterranean meal moth (5). Studies in this alternate host suggested that the agent was most likely a cell wall-deficient microbe, perhaps a mycoplasma or similar organism (1).In this publication, we report the isolation on artificial media of cell wall-deficient organisms from two of the D. paulistorum semispecies. These organisms, commonly called Lforms, demonstrated a semispecies-specific male sterility pattern. METHODSInsects. We...

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“…Gottlieb et al (9) showed that D. paulistorum extracts injected into Ephestia kuehniella (Mediterranean meal moth) larvae kill the recipients. Extracts of recipient E. kuehniella larvae killed not only E. kuehniella, but also adult D. paulistorum.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Characteristics of the Drosophila paulistorum Male Sterility Agent in a Secondary Host, Ephestia kuehniella

Gottlieb

Simmons

Inocencio

et al. 1981

Appl Environ Microbiol

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Crosses among the six semispecies of Drosophila paulistorum produce sterile male hybrids. This sterility is caused by an agent which has characteristics of a microorganism. It is pathogenic in a secondary host, the larvae of the Mediterranean meal moth, Ephestia kuehniella, and can be serially passaged in Ephestia, where it is lethal. The agent was passaged back into D. paulistorum, where it induced sterility in males of a semispecies different from that of origin of the agent. Infectious particles were obtained from an extract of infected Ephestia by ultracentrifugation in a sucrose-Ficoll-metrizamide gradient. Both crude and purified extracts were lyophilized and stored indefinitely without loss of killing power. The agent was destroyed by low pH, lipid solvents, ultraviolet light, and exposure to a temperature of 56°C for 30 min. It appeared to be sensitive to tetracycline and insensitive to penicillin, suggesting that the agent is not a virus, but more likely a cell wall-deficient bacterium or mycoplasma-like organism.

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Interorder transfer of mycoplasma-like microorganisms between Drosophila paulistorum and Ephestia kuehniella: Tissues, dosages, and effects

Cited by 11 publications

References 13 publications

Bacterial Entomopathogens from the Drosophila paulistorum Semispecies Complex

Bacterial Entomopathogens from the Drosophila paulistorum Semispecies Complex

Streptococcal L-forms isolated from Drosophila paulistorum semispecies cause sterility in male progeny.

Characteristics of the Drosophila paulistorum Male Sterility Agent in a Secondary Host, Ephestia kuehniella

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