The bacterial catalase from filarial DNA preparations derives from common pseudomonad contaminants and not from Wolbachia endosymbionts

Jeremy Foster, Laura Baldo, Mark Blaxter, Kimberly Henkle-Dührsen, Claire Whitton, Barton Slatko, Claudio Bandi

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Wolbachia are obligatory endosymbionts in many species of filarial nematodes. Certain bacterial molecules induce antibody responses in mammalian hosts infected with filariae, while others activate inflammatory responses that contribute to pathology. These findings, coupled with antibiotic studies demonstrating the dependence of filarial embryogenesis on the presence of Wolbachia, have intensified research on Wolbachia-nematode interactions, and the effects of Wolbachia molecules on the mammalian immune system. By amplification and sequencing of 16S rDNA and catalase sequences, we show that filarial DNA samples prepared from nematodes collected under typical conditions are frequently contaminated with Pseudomonas DNA. Analysis of a published DNA fragment containing a catalase attributed to the Wolbachia of Onchocerca volvulus showed it to be most like Pseudomonas, both in terms of sequence similarity and genomic organization. Additionally, there was no obvious catalase in either of two available Wolbachia genome sequences. Contamination of filarial DNA with bacterial sequences other than Wolbachia can complicate studies of the role of these symbionts in filarial biology.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)141-6
Number of pages6
JournalParasitology Research
Volume94
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2004

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

  • Animals
  • Catalase
  • DNA, Bacterial
  • DNA, Helminth
  • DNA, Ribosomal
  • Filarioidea
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Pseudomonas
  • RNA, Ribosomal, 16S
  • Sequence Analysis, DNA
  • Symbiosis
  • Wolbachia

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