A Trojan horse pathogen breaking through partner-choice barriers in the insect gut
Abstract
Mutualistic symbioses are potentially vulnerable to exploitation, particularly in hosts that acquire symbionts from the environment, where harmful exploiters inhabit. The independent evolution and persistence of intricate partner-choice mechanisms in many symbioses testify the threat by specialized exploiters of mutualisms, although only few have been documented in nature. We report here a lethal “Trojan horse” pathogen, Burkholderia sp. SJ1, exploiting the stinkbug– Caballeronia gut symbiosis. This bacterium resembles symbionts by using wrapping motility to traverse the host’s sorting organ, inducing symbiotic organ morphogenesis and colonizing it. Unlike mutualists, however, it resists host digestion for nutrient acquisition, breaches the gut epithelium, and causes sepsis, rapidly killing the host. Colonization of the symbiotic organ is essential for its lethality. This case shows how pathogens can exploit mutualisms, highlighting the evolutionary pressures shaping partner-choice mechanisms and the fragility of even highly specialized mutualisms.
Article Details
Journal Info
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
National Academy of Sciences
Authors (11)
Kota Ishigami
Faculty of Agriculture, University of the Ryukyus
Seonghan Jang
Biomanufacturing Process Research Center, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Hokkaido Center
Aoba Yoshioka
Department of Engineering Science, Graduate School of Informatics and Engineering, The University of Electro-Communications
Hiroyuki Morimura
Biomanufacturing Process Research Center, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Hokkaido Center
Aya Yokota
Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, CNRS, Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell
Lionel Moulin
Plant Health Institute of Montpellier (PHIM), IRD, CIRAD, INRAE, Institut Agro, Univ Montpellier
Antoine-Olivier Lirette
Unit of Applied Biological Chemistry, Graduate School of Agriculture, Hokkaido University
Kazutaka Takeshita
Faculty of Bioresource Sciences, Akita Prefectural University
Daisuke Nakane
Department of Engineering Science, Graduate School of Informatics and Engineering, The University of Electro-Communications
Peter Mergaert
Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives, CNRS, Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell, Université Paris-Saclay
Yoshitomo Kikuchi
Unit of Applied Biological Chemistry, Graduate School of Agriculture, Hokkaido University