Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - The endosymbiont Wolbachia increases insulin/IGF-like signalling in Drosophila
AU - Ikeya, Tomoatsu
AU - Broughton, Susan
AU - Alic, Nazif
AU - Grandison, Richard
AU - Partridge, Linda
PY - 2009/11
Y1 - 2009/11
N2 - Insulin/IGF-like signalling (IIS) is an evolutionarily conserved pathway that has diverse functions in multi-cellular organisms. Mutations that reduce IIS can have pleiotropic effects on growth, development, metabolic homeostasis, fecundity, stress resistance and lifespan. IIS is also modified by extrinsic factors. For instance, in the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster, both nutrition and stress can alter the activity of the pathway. Here, we test experimentally the hypothesis that a widespread endosymbiont of arthropods, Wolbachia pipientis, can alter the degree to which mutations in genes encoding IIS components affect IIS and its resultant phenotypes. Wolbachia infection, which is widespread in D. melanogaster in nature and has been estimated to infect 30 per cent of strains in the Bloomington stock centre, can affect broad aspects of insect physiology, particularly traits associated with reproduction. We measured a range of IIS-related phenotypes in flies ubiquitously mutant for IIS in the presence and absence of Wolbachia. We show that removal of Wolbachia further reduces IIS and hence enhances the mutant phenotypes, suggesting that Wolbachia normally acts to increase insulin signalling. This effect of Wolbachia infection on IIS could have an evolutionary explanation, and has some implications for studies of IIS in Drosophila and other organisms that harbour endosymbionts.
AB - Insulin/IGF-like signalling (IIS) is an evolutionarily conserved pathway that has diverse functions in multi-cellular organisms. Mutations that reduce IIS can have pleiotropic effects on growth, development, metabolic homeostasis, fecundity, stress resistance and lifespan. IIS is also modified by extrinsic factors. For instance, in the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster, both nutrition and stress can alter the activity of the pathway. Here, we test experimentally the hypothesis that a widespread endosymbiont of arthropods, Wolbachia pipientis, can alter the degree to which mutations in genes encoding IIS components affect IIS and its resultant phenotypes. Wolbachia infection, which is widespread in D. melanogaster in nature and has been estimated to infect 30 per cent of strains in the Bloomington stock centre, can affect broad aspects of insect physiology, particularly traits associated with reproduction. We measured a range of IIS-related phenotypes in flies ubiquitously mutant for IIS in the presence and absence of Wolbachia. We show that removal of Wolbachia further reduces IIS and hence enhances the mutant phenotypes, suggesting that Wolbachia normally acts to increase insulin signalling. This effect of Wolbachia infection on IIS could have an evolutionary explanation, and has some implications for studies of IIS in Drosophila and other organisms that harbour endosymbionts.
KW - Drosophila melanogaster
KW - Insulin
KW - Wolbachia
KW - Ageing
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=70449721133&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1098/rspb.2009.0778
DO - 10.1098/rspb.2009.0778
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 19692410
VL - 276
SP - 3799
EP - 3807
JO - Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
JF - Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
SN - 0962-8452
IS - 1674
ER -