Abstract

Poster Presentations

Day 3, June 24（Tue.）　

Room P (Maesato East, Foyer, Ocean Wing)

3P-AM-51（2B-O1-1210）
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First Look at the Integrated Phospholipid Metabolism in an Insect Endosymbiosis

(¹NIBB, ²Keio University, ³RIKEN IMS)
^oDolma Michellod¹, Kathrine Tan¹, Makoto Arita^2,3, Shuji Shigenobu¹

While lipids are a well-established key player in pathogenic interactions, their function and importance in beneficial bacterial-animal symbiosis remains largely unexplored. Lipids play an essential role in an ancient, widespread and economically relevant association: the nutritional symbiosis between sap-feeding insects and their intracellular endosymbionts. Drastic genome reduction and loss of phospholipid synthesis are common features of those endosymbionts. Here we chose the pea aphid symbiosis as a model to investigate this integrated lipid metabolism. Using omics, we created an overview of the ability of both partners to synthesize, modify and transfer phospholipids. We then combined state-of-the-art high-resolution metabolite imaging with fluorescence microscopy and LC-MS/MS to identify the lipid species present at the host-microbe interface and to determine the impact of this cooperative lipid metabolism on the lipid profile of the host and its symbiont. Overall, our results showed that the lipid profile of the endosymbiont closely resembles that of its eukaryotic host, suggesting that it incorporates host phospholipids with little modification. Our analysis also revealed compounds specific to the symbiotic organ and some more specifically associated with the endosymbiont. This work is a first step towards elucidating the cooperative lipid metabolism that supports sap-feeding insect symbioses.