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Review
. 2016 Dec;5(6):923-936.
doi: 10.1002/mbo3.390. Epub 2016 Jul 26.

The rich somatic life of Wolbachia

Jose E Pietri  1 , Heather DeBruhl  2 , William Sullivan  1
Affiliations
Review

The rich somatic life of Wolbachia

Jose E Pietri et al. Microbiologyopen. 2016 Dec.

Abstract

Wolbachia is an intracellular endosymbiont infecting most arthropod and some filarial nematode species that is vertically transmitted through the maternal lineage. Due to this primary mechanism of transmission, most studies have focused on Wolbachia interactions with the host germline. However, over the last decade many studies have emerged highlighting the prominence of Wolbachia in somatic tissues, implicating somatic tissue tropism as an important aspect of the life history of this endosymbiont. Here, we review our current understanding of Wolbachia-host interactions at both the cellular and organismal level, with a focus on Wolbachia in somatic tissues.

Keywords: Wolbachia; cytoskeleton; endosymbiont; horizontal; insect; invasion; migration; nematode; pathogen resistance; somatic; transfer; virus.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Wolbachia distribution in somatic tissues. Wolbachia has been detected by PCR and fluorescent cytology in various somatic tissues of numerous (A) fly, (B) mosquito, and (C) filarial nematode species, as indicated in green
Figure 2
Figure 2
Wolbachia localization in somatic and germline cells during host development. The posterior localization of Wolbachia in the (A,B) developing oocyte and (C) embryo embryo relies on interactions with host microtubules, motor proteins, and posterior determinants. Wolbachia that localize to the posterior pole (P) are incorporated into the germline. However, a fraction of Wolbachia remains dispersed throughout the developing oocyte and embryo (arrowheads) and fate map to somatic tissues. Host nuclei=green, Wolbachia=red
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