Benjamin Guinet

Endoparasitoid lifestyle promotes endogenization and domestication of dsDNA viruses The propensity to endogenize and domesticate dsDNA viruses depends on lifestyle in Hymenoptera.

Sources :
- www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour...
- academic.oup.com/ve/article/1...
- www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
- elifesciences.org/articles/85993
- royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10....

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 : Pretty fascinating, isn’t it? This kind of viral domestication has evolved multiple times, independently, across different wasp lineages and viral families. As more genomes get sequenced, we’re likely just scratching the surface. Who knows what other viral hitchhikers we’ll find next?

7) Yes, I said domesticated! After viral DNA accidentally integrates into the host genome, it can sometimes be co-opted to boost the host’s survival. In wasps, this means using viral genes to produce virus-like particles injected with the egg, helping suppress the host insect’s immune system.

6) This virus–wasp relationship isn’t new, it’s been going on for millions of years. Over such long timescales viral DNA can accidentally integrate the wasp’s genome. This is not rare, take mammals for instance, part of the placenta is the result of a retrovirus domesticated gene (𝘴𝘺𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯).

5) In this red queen race, some wasps have fought back too, evolving ways to shut down the host’s immune response and protect their eggs. That’s where the 𝘍𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘴 come in, but not into their free-living forms.

4) To understand this, let’s zoom in on the wasp’s lifestyle. For the unlucky host insect, getting injected with wasp eggs is a death sentence, unless its immune system fights back. Over time, insects have evolved smart defenses, like encapsulating the eggs to block and kill them before they hatch.

3) However, this comes at a cost to the wasp: her egg now has to compete with others inside the same host. This is a situation they usually avoid by carefully probing their prey first. Nevertheless, these spaghetti-shaped viruses (see TEM image) also confer some mutual benefits on the wasp.

2) These DNA viruses have co-evolved with parasitoid wasps for millions of years, and they’ve learned a clever trick. They manipulate the behavior of infected female wasps to lay their eggs in hosts that are already infected with egg, increasing the chances for the virus to spread in the population.

1) Parasitoid wasps live a brutal life: they lay eggs inside other insects, and the larvae eat their hosts from the inside out. Think Alien, but real, and with bugs.

Summary of taxonomy changes ratified by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) from the Animal DNA Viruses and Retroviruses Subcommittee, 2025 The International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) holds a ratification vote annually after review of newly proposed taxa by ICTV Study Groups and members of the virology community. In March 20...

The viral family 𝘍𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘦 is now officially recognized by the ICTV! A perfect excuse to dive into their bizarre and fascinating partnership with parasitoid wasps, a story of evolution, genetic hijacking, insect horror and behavior manipulation. www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour...

4) In contrast, damage intensity is driven by how genetically distant the reference genome is from the reads. This makes comparing damage curves between hosts and past symbionts or other microbes much trickier and needs to be taken into account by looking at the reference genome divergence distance.

3) This is partly because fewer reads map to distant references, but we show that this mostly affects the stochasticity (variability) of damage patterns.

2) In that context, when mapping aDNA reads to distant available reference genomes, we show that sequence divergence may obscure such C-to-T damage signals.

1) Microbial genomic databases often lack comprehensive representation, reducing the likelihood of having access to a closely related reference genome for many ancient microbial taxa.

The Impact of Reference Genome Divergence on Ancient DNA Damage Detection in Metagenomic Contexts The reliability of ancient DNA (aDNA) authentication depends on detecting characteristic damage patterns, particularly cytosine deamination at fragment ends. However, in ancient metagenomic studies, s...

New preprint 🎉! We explore the reliability of ancient DNA authentication, particularly cytosine deamination at fragment ends in metagenomic context. You can find the full results in our preprint:

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

The FIRST International Conference on Palaeogenomics will happen in Stockholm, Sweden, June 23-26, 2026!

Topics will encompass all corners of ancient DNA research, from humans to wildlife and sediments🧬🦣💀🦠

Save the dates ✅

Check the website icp2026.palaeogenomics.org and follow us for updates!

NOBEL SYMPOSIA

We are delighted to announce two exciting public talks on Ancient DNA at Aula Magna (Stockholm University) on May 30th, 10:00-12:30h.

🦣⬅️ ”Can we bring back the woolly mammoth?” by Beth Shapiro.

🐎✋”The taming of the horse” by Ludovic Orlando.

Free entrance. All welcome!

Our latest study uncovers a viral domestication event from ~75 million years ago, where viral genes enable parasitoid wasps to protect their eggs they lay within dipteran hosts!

🐝->🥚+🦠->🪰☠️ ->🐝🦠

Read more: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

#paleovirology #parasitoid #evolution