Essential Amino Acid Enrichment and Positive Selection Highlight Endosymbiont's Role in a Global Virus-Vectoring Pest

Date

2021

Journal Title

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Abstract

Host-associated microbes display remarkable convergence in genome repertoire resulting from selection to supplement missing host functions. Nutritional supplementation has been proposed in the verrucomicrobial endosymbiont Xiphinematobacter sp., which lives within a globally widespread group of plant-parasitic nematodes that vector damaging nepoviruses to plants. Only one genome sequence has been published from this symbiont, leaving unanswered questions about its diversity, host range, role, and selective pressures within its hosts. Because its hosts are exceptionally resistant to culturing, this symbiont is best studied through advanced genomic approaches. To analyze the role of Xiphinematobacter sp. in its host, sequencing was performed on nematode communities, and then genomes were extracted for comparative genomics, gene ontology enrichment tests, polymorphism analysis, de Bruijn-based genome-wide association studies, and tests of pathway- and site-specific selection on genes predicted play a role in the symbiosis. Results showed a closely clustered set of Xiphinematobacter isolates with reduced genomes of ∼917 kbp, for which a new species was proposed. Symbionts shared only 2.3% of genes with outgroup Verrucomicrobia, but comparative analyses showed high conservation of all 10 essential amino acid (EAA) biosynthesis pathways plus several vitamin pathways. These findings were supported by gene ontology enrichment tests and high polymorphisms in these pathways compared with background. Genome-wide association analysis confirmed high between-species fixation of alleles with significant functional enrichment for EAA and thiamine synthesis. Strong positive selection was detected on sites within these pathways, despite several being under increased purifying selection. Together, these results suggest that supplementation of EAAs missing in the host diet may drive this widespread symbiosis.

Description

Copyright © 2021 Myers et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.

Keywords

Amino Acid Biosynthesis, Comparative Genomics, Genome-Wide Association Study, Mutualism, Nutritional Symbiont, Plant-Parasitic Nematode, Population Genomics, Symbiosis

Citation

Myers KN, Conn D, Brown AMV. 2021. Essential amino acid enrichment and positive selection highlight endosymbiont's role in a global virus-vectoring pest. mSystems 6: e01048-20. https://doi.org/10.1128/mSystems .01048-20