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The cellular lives of Wolbachia

Nature Reviews Microbiology volume 21, pages 750–766 (2023)Cite this article

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Abstract

Wolbachia are successful Gram-negative bacterial endosymbionts, globally infecting a large fraction of arthropod species and filarial nematodes. Efficient vertical transmission, the capacity for horizontal transmission, manipulation of host reproduction and enhancement of host fitness can promote the spread both within and between species. Wolbachia are abundant and can occupy extraordinary diverse and evolutionary distant host species, suggesting that they have evolved to engage and manipulate highly conserved core cellular processes. Here, we review recent studies identifying Wolbachia–host interactions at the molecular and cellular levels. We explore how Wolbachia interact with a wide array of host cytoplasmic and nuclear components in order to thrive in a diversity of cell types and cellular environments. This endosymbiont has also evolved the ability to precisely target and manipulate specific phases of the host cell cycle. The remarkable diversity of cellular interactions distinguishes Wolbachia from other endosymbionts and is largely responsible for facilitating its global propagation through host populations. Finally, we describe how insights into Wolbachia–host cellular interactions have led to promising applications in controlling insect-borne and filarial nematode-based diseases.

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Fig. 1: Key features of Wolbachia genomics and cell biology, and effects on the host.
Fig. 2: Wolbachia interactions with cellular organelles.
Fig. 3: The cell biology of Wolbachia vertical transmission.
Fig. 4: Toxin–antitoxin and host-modification models of cytoplasmic incompatibility.

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Science Foundation (NSF) grants (NIGMS-1R35GM139595, NSF 1456535). Due to space considerations, the authors could not include and reference several seminal contributions to the Wolbachia field. The authors thank members of the Sullivan, Cooper, Debec and Serbus laboratories for helpful comments and images. The authors thank C. Lindley and D. States for their editing expertise as well as B. Livingston for lending his artistic eye.

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    Jillian Porter & William Sullivan

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Porter, J., Sullivan, W. The cellular lives of Wolbachia. Nat Rev Microbiol 21, 750–766 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-023-00918-x

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