First evidence of virus-like particles in the bacterial symbionts of Bryozoa

Bacteriophage communities associated with humans and vertebrate animals have been extensively studied, but the data on phages living in invertebrates remain scarce. In fact, they have never been reported for most animal phyla. Our ultrastructural study showed for the first time a variety of virus-li...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports 2021-01, Vol.11 (1), p.4-4, Article 4
Main Authors: Vishnyakov, A. E., Karagodina, N. P., Lim-Fong, G., Ivanov, P. A., Schwaha, T. F., Letarov, A. V., Ostrovsky, A. N.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
631/158/855
631/326
631/326/1321
Animals
Bacteria
Bacteriophages - isolation & purification
Bacteriophages - ultrastructure
Bryozoa
Bryozoa - anatomy & histology
Bryozoa - microbiology
Bryozoa - virology
Bugula neritina
Contractility
Host Microbial Interactions
Humanities and Social Sciences
Invertebrates
Metamorphosis
Microbiota
Microscopy, Electron, Transmission
multidisciplinary
Phages
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Symbionts
Symbiosis
Virion - isolation & purification
Virion - ultrastructure
Virus-like particles
Viruses
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Summary:Bacteriophage communities associated with humans and vertebrate animals have been extensively studied, but the data on phages living in invertebrates remain scarce. In fact, they have never been reported for most animal phyla. Our ultrastructural study showed for the first time a variety of virus-like particles (VLPs) and supposed virus-related structures inside symbiotic bacteria in two marine species from the phylum Bryozoa, the cheilostomes Bugula neritina and Paralicornia sinuosa . We also documented the effect of VLPs on bacterial hosts: we explain different bacterial ‘ultrastructural types’ detected in bryozoan tissues as stages in the gradual destruction of prokaryotic cells caused by viral multiplication during the lytic cycle. We speculate that viruses destroying bacteria regulate symbiont numbers in the bryozoan hosts, a phenomenon known in some insects. We develop two hypotheses explaining exo- and endogenous circulation of the viruses during the life-cycle of B. neritina . Finally, we compare unusual ‘sea-urchin’-like structures found in the collapsed bacteria in P. sinuosa with so-called metamorphosis associated contractile structures (MACs) formed in the cells of the marine bacterium Pseudoalteromonas luteoviolacea which are known to trigger larval metamorphosis in a polychaete worm.
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/s41598-020-78616-4