Section: New Results

Transcriptomics of symbiosis in the Asobara tabida-Wolbachia association

Wolbachia has evolved a very peculiar phenotype in the host Asobara tabida where it is obligatory for oogenesis. Through transcriptomic approaches (Sanger sequencing of mRNA, in vitro substraction of transcriptomes), we have established a first reference transcriptome of this insect. The analyses done demonstrate that Wolbachia interferes with different host pathways, and notably regulation of oxidative stress, apoptosis and autophagy, which are known to be involved in host-pathogen interactions. RNAseq has now been performed on this system and analyses are underway, which will allow a finer investigation of the interaction using the algorithm KisSplice (see above) developed in the EPI for the analysis of NGS data without reference genome.