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Nature Communications You are receiving this press release because you have registered to do so at the Nature Research press site. In registering to receive these press releases, you have agreed to the terms and conditions NOTES ** Please note altered embargo times due to changes to/from daylight savings time ** EMBARGO LONDON NEW YORK Tuesday 11 October 2016 16:00 (BST) Tuesday 11 October 2016 11:00 (EDT) TOKYO SYDNEY Wednesday 12 October 2016 00:00 (JST) Wednesday 12 October 2016 02:00 (AEDT) Wire services’ stories must always carry the embargo time at the head of each item, and may not be sent out more than 24 hours before that time. Solely for the purpose of soliciting informed comment on Nature Research papers, you may show relevant parts of this document, and the papers to which it refers, to independent specialists – but you must ensure in advance that they understand and accept Nature Research’s embargo conditions. PRESS RELEASES This press release is copyright Macmillan Publishers Limited. Its use is granted only for journalists and news media receiving it directly from Nature Research. Full terms and conditions can be found here. The best contacts for stories will always be the authors, but the editor who handled a paper may be available for comment if an author is unobtainable. Please get in touch with Nature Research's press contacts as listed below with any editorial enquiry. We take great care not to hype the papers mentioned on our press releases. If you ever consider that a story has been hyped, please do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected], citing the specific example. NATURE COMMUNICATIONS [2] Evolution: Bacteria-infecting viruses share DNA with black widow spiders *IMAGES* A virus that infects bacteria shares DNA sequences with animals, including the black widow spider, finds a study published in Nature Communications this week. Viruses that infect bacteria do not also infect eukaryotes (i.e. animals, plants, fungi and protists). Although viruses commonly exchange genetic material with their hosts, viruses have not been known to assimilate genes from a domain of life different from that of their host. Sarah Bordenstein and Seth Bordenstein sequenced the genome of phage WO, a virus that infects the bacteria Wolbachia, and found that a section of the genome is made up of eukaryotic-like genes. The genes are closely related to insect and spider genes for toxins, mediating host–microbe interactions, host cell suicide, and transport across cell membranes. Since Wolbachia itself infects insect and spider cells, the authors suggest that these genes may help the virus infiltrate animal cells to reach the bacteria. Based on their eukaryotic characteristics and distribution among animals, the genes probably originated in animals before being incorporated by the virus. However, the direction and route of DNA transmission between animal and virus is still uncertain. ARTICLE DETAILS DOI: 10.1038/NCOMMS13155 Corresponding Authors: Sarah Bordenstein Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States Email: [email protected] Seth Bordenstein Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States Email: [email protected] Tel: +1 615 322 9087 Please link to the article in online versions of your report (the URL will go live after the embargo ends): http://nature.com/articles/doi:10.1038/NCOMMS13155 Image 1 (2.95 KB) This image of a tripartite community of animals, microbes, and viruses represents Nasonia wasps infected by Wolbachia bacteria which are in turn infected by phage WO. Gene sharing occurs between the genomes of all three entities. Credit: Robert Brucker Image 2 (5.11 MB) Inspired by the mandala, this circular representation shows three concentric rings symbolizing the tripartite complexity of phage WO inside Wolbachia symbionts that reside in Nasonia parasitic wasps. Each entity impacts the other’s biology, including genetic exchange between all three genomes. Credit: Robert Brucker Image 3 Wolbachia symbionts infected with numerous tiny virus particles, enlarged in the inset. Credit: Michelle Marshall and Seth Bordenstein