ArticleNature microbiology2019
Phosphatidic acid as a limiting host metabolite for the proliferation of the microsporidium Tubulinosema ratisbonensis in Drosophila flies.
Article in Nature microbiology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed, 54 citations in OpenAlex.
- Microsporidia: evolution, infection mechanisms and host impact.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2026Review
- The Caenorhabditis elegans microbiome impacts microsporidia infection through nutrient limitation and spore inactivation.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Immune regulators PALS-25 and PALS-22 localize to mitochondria and regulate mitochondrial fragmentation iniScience · 2026Article
- ThebioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Harnessing Nutritional Niches to Explore Fungus-Animal Symbioses.Ecology letters · 2025Review
- Microsporidia infection alters C. elegans lipid levels.PloS one · 2025Article
- Article
- Dynamic Interplay of Metabolic and Transcriptional Responses in Shrimp during Early and Late Infection Stages ofInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2023Article
- FastiScience · 2023Article
- Molecular and biochemical changes in Locusta migratoria (Orthoptera: Acrididae) infected with Paranosema locustae.Journal of insect science (Online) · 2023Article
- The intracellular parasite Anncaliia algerae induces a massive miRNA down-regulation in human cells.Non-coding RNA research · 2023Article
- Regulating metabolism to shape immune function: Lessons from Drosophila.Seminars in cell & developmental biology · 2023Review
- Heterologous Expressed NbSWP12 from MicrosporidiaJournal of fungi (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Review
- Gut-derived peptidoglycan remotely inhibits bacteria dependent activation of SREBP by Drosophila adipocytes.PLoS genetics · 2022Article
- An Integrated Transcriptomics and Lipidomics Analysis Reveals That Ergosterol Is Required for Host Defense Against Bacterial Infection inFrontiers in immunology · 2022Article
- Current Therapy and Therapeutic Targets for Microsporidiosis.Frontiers in microbiology · 2022Review
- Phagocytosis Is the Sole Arm ofFrontiers in immunology · 2022Article
- Comparative Genomics of Microsporidia.Experientia supplementum (2012) · 2022Article
- Factors That Determine Microsporidia Infection and Host Specificity.Experientia supplementum (2012) · 2022Review
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Microsporidia are located at the base of the fungal evolutionary tree. They are obligate intracellular parasites and harness host metabolism to fuel their growth and proliferation. However, how the infestation of cells affects the whole organism and how the organism contributes to parasite proliferation remain poorly understood. Here, we have developed a Tubulinosema ratisbonensis systemic infection model in the genetically amenable Drosophila melanogaster host, in which parasite spores obtained in a mammalian cell culture infection system are injected into adult flies. The parasites proliferate within flies and ultimately kill their hosts. As commonly observed for microsporidia infecting insects, T. ratisbonensis preferentially grows in the fat body and ultimately depletes the host metabolic stores. We find that supplementing the fly diet with yeast does not benefit the host but the parasite, which increases its proliferation. Unexpectedly, fatty acids and not carbohydrates or amino acids are the critical components responsible for this phenomenon. Our genetic dissection of host lipid metabolism identifies a crucial compound hijacked by T. ratisbonensis: phosphatidic acid. We propose that phosphatidic acid is a limiting precursor for the synthesis of the parasite membranes and, hence, of its proliferation.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.