02540nas a2200229 4500008004100000245008600041210006900127300001400196490000700210520186800217653002202085653002302107653002102130653001002151100002202161700001602183700001802199700001402217700002002231700001902251856004002270 2014 eng d00aNasonia vitripennis Venom Causes Targeted Gene Expression Changes in Its Fly Host0 aNasonia vitripennis Venom Causes Targeted Gene Expression Change a5918-59300 v233 a

Parasitoid wasps are diverse and ecologically important insects that use venom to modify their host's metabolism for the benefit of the parasitoid's offspring. Thus, the effects of venom can be considered an ‘extended phenotype’ of the wasp. The model parasitoid wasp Nasonia vitripennis has approximately 100 venom proteins, 23 of which do not have sequence similarity to known proteins. Envenomation by N. vitripennis has previously been shown to induce developmental arrest, selective apoptosis and alterations in lipid metabolism in flesh fly hosts. However, the full effects of Nasonia venom are still largely unknown. In this study, we used high throughput RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) to characterize global changes in Sarcophaga bullata (Diptera) gene expression in response to envenomation by N. vitripennis. Surprisingly, we show that Nasonia venom targets a small subset of S. bullata loci, with ~2% genes being differentially expressed in response to envenomation. Strong upregulation of enhancer of split complex genes provides a potential molecular mechanism that could explain the observed neural cell death and developmental arrest in envenomated hosts. Significant increases in antimicrobial peptides and their corresponding regulatory genes provide evidence that venom could be selectively activating certain immune responses of the hosts. Further, we found differential expression of genes in several metabolic pathways, including glycolysis and gluconeogenesis that may be responsible for the decrease in pyruvate levels found in envenomated hosts. The targeting of Nasonia venom effects to a specific and limited set of genes provides insight into the interaction between the ectoparasitoid wasp and its host.

10aenhancer of split10aextended phenotype10aparasitoid wasps10avenom1 aMartinson, E., O.1 aWheeler, D.1 aWright, J., J1 aMrinalini1 aSiebert, A., L.1 aWerren, J., H. uhttp://dx.doi.org/10.1111/mec.12967