TY  - JOUR
A1  - Kupper, Maria
A1  - Stigloher, Christian
A1  - Feldhaar, Heike
A1  - Gross, Roy
T1  - Distribution of the obligate endosymbiont Blochmannia floridanus and expression analysis of putative immune genes in ovaries of the carpenter ant Camponotus floridanus
JF  - Arthropod Structure & Development
N2  - The bacterial endosymbiont Blochmannia floridanus of the carpenter ant Camponotus floridanus contributes to its hosts' ontogeny via nutritional upgrading during metamorphosis. This primary endosymbiosis is essential for both partners and vertical transmission of the endosymbionts is guaranteed by bacterial infestation of oocytes. Here we present a detailed analysis of the presence and localisation of B. floridanus in the ants' ovaries obtained by FISH and TEM analyses. The most apical part of the germarium harbouring germ-line stem cells (GSCs) is not infected by the bacteria. The bacteria are detectable for the first time in lower parts of the germarium when cystocytes undergo the 4th and 5th division and B. floridanus infects somatic cells lying under the basal lamina surrounding the ovarioles. With the beginning of cystocyte differentiation, the endosymbionts are exclusively transported from follicle cells into the growing oocytes. This infestation of the oocytes by bacteria very likely involves exocytosis endocytosis processes between follicle cells and the oocytes. Nurse cells were never found to harbour the endosymbionts. Furthermore we present first gene expression data in C floridanus ovaries. These data indicate a modulation of immune gene expression which may facilitate tolerance towards the endosymbionts and thus may contribute to their transovarial transmission.
KW  - Ecologically important traits
KW  - Bacterial symbionts
KW  - Arthropods
KW  - Peptidoglycan recognition
KW  - Transovarial transmission
KW  - Horizontal transfer
KW  - Insect hosts
KW  - Microorganisms
KW  - Reproduction
KW  - Hymenoptera
KW  - Primary endosymbiont
KW  - Oogenesis
KW  - Insects
Y1  - 2016
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-187482
VL  - 45
IS  - 5
ER  -