Affiliation:
1. Lehrstuhl für Mikrobiologie
2. Lehrstuhl für Verhaltensphysiologie und Soziobiologie, Biozentrum der Universität Würzburg, Am Hubland, D-97074 Würzburg, Germany
Abstract
ABSTRACT
Expression of several genes possibly involved in the symbiotic relationship between the obligate intracellular endosymbiont
Blochmannia floridanus
and its ant host
Camponotus floridanus
was investigated at different developmental stages of the host by real-time quantitative PCR. These included a set of genes related to nitrogen metabolism (
ureC
,
ureF
,
glnA
, and
speB
) as well as genes involved in the synthesis of the aromatic amino acid tyrosine (
tyrA
,
aspC
, and
hisC
). The overall transcriptional activity of
Blochmannia
was found to be quite low during early developmental stages and to increase steadily with host age. However, a concerted peak of gene expression related to nitrogen recycling could be detected around the entire process of pupation, while expression of biosynthesis pathways for aromatic amino acids was elevated only during a short phase in pupation. These data suggest an important role of certain metabolic functions for the symbiotic interactions of the bacteria and an individual host organism in early phases of development. General relevance of
Blochmannia
for its ant host was tested in fostering experiments with worker groups of
Camponotus floridanus
, and their success in raising pupae from first-instar larvae was used as a fitness measure. Groups treated with antibiotics had a significantly reduced success in raising the brood in comparison to untreated control groups, indicating that the symbiosis is relevant for the development of the entire colony.
Publisher
American Society for Microbiology
Subject
Ecology,Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology,Food Science,Biotechnology
Cited by
69 articles.
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