A systems biology approach for studying Wolbachia metabolism reveals points of interaction with its host in the context of arboviral infection

PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2019 Aug 30;13(8):e0007678. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0007678. eCollection 2019 Aug.

Abstract

Wolbachia are alpha-proteobacteria known to infect arthropods, which are of interest for disease control since they have been associated with improved resistance to viral infection. Although several genomes for different strains have been sequenced, there is little knowledge regarding the relationship between this bacterium and their hosts, particularly on their dependency for survival. Motivated by the potential applications on disease control, we developed genome-scale models of four Wolbachia strains known to infect arthropods: wAlbB (Aedes albopictus), wVitA (Nasonia vitripennis), wMel and wMelPop (Drosophila melanogaster). The obtained metabolic reconstructions exhibit a metabolism relying mainly on amino acids for energy production and biomass synthesis. A gap analysis was performed to detect metabolic candidates which could explain the endosymbiotic nature of this bacterium, finding that amino acids, requirements for ubiquinone precursors and provisioning of metabolites such as riboflavin could play a crucial role in this relationship. This work provides a systems biology perspective for studying the relationship of Wolbachia with its host and the development of new approaches for control of the spread of arboviral diseases. This approach, where metabolic gaps are key objects of study instead of just additions to complete a model, could be applied to other endosymbiotic bacteria of interest.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aedes / microbiology
  • Animals
  • Drosophila melanogaster / microbiology
  • Host Microbial Interactions*
  • Hymenoptera / microbiology
  • Symbiosis*
  • Systems Biology / methods
  • Wolbachia / growth & development*
  • Wolbachia / metabolism*

Grants and funding

This work was funded by MOSTICAW STIC-AmSud, PIA Fellowship AFB170001 (CMM) and PFBasal-0001 (CeBiB), Conicyt, Chile. The latter also funded publication costs associated to this article. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.