Small genome of Candidatus Blochmannia, the bacterial endosymbiont of Camponotus, implies irreversible specialization to an intracellular lifestyle
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https://hdl.handle.net/1912/109Keyword
Genome reduction; Symbiosis; Bacteriocytes; Asexuality; Genetic driftAbstract
Blochmannia (Candidatus Blochmannia gen. nov.) is the primary bacterial
endosymbiont of the ant genus Camponotus. Like other obligate
endosymbionts of insects, Blochmannia occurs exclusively within eukaryotic
cells and has experienced long-term vertical transmission through host
lineages. In this study, PFGE was used to estimate the genome size of
Blochmannia as approximately 800 kb, which is significantly smaller than its
free-living relatives in the enterobacteria. This small genome implies that
Blochmannia has deleted most of the genetic machinery of related free-living
bacteria. Due to restricted gene exchange in obligate endosymbionts, the
substantial gene loss in Blochmannia and other insect mutualists may reflect
irreversible specialization to a host cellular environment.
Description
Author Posting. © Society for General Mircobiology, 2002. This article is posted here by permission of Society for General Mircobiology for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Microbiology 148 (2002): 2551-2556.
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