Comparative Genomic Analysis of <i>Holospora</i> spp., Intranuclear Symbionts of Paramecia



Garushyants, Sofya K, Beliavskaia, Alexandra Y ORCID: 0000-0002-1194-5689, Malko, Dmitry B, Logacheva, Maria D, Rautian, Maria S and Gelfand, Mikhail S
(2018) Comparative Genomic Analysis of <i>Holospora</i> spp., Intranuclear Symbionts of Paramecia. FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY, 9 (APR). 738-.

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Abstract

While most endosymbiotic bacteria are transmitted only vertically, <i>Holospora</i> spp., an alphaproteobacterium from the <i>Rickettsiales</i> order, can desert its host and invade a new one. All bacteria from the genus <i>Holospora</i> are intranuclear symbionts of ciliates <i>Paramecium</i> spp. with strict species and nuclear specificity. Comparative metabolic reconstruction based on the newly sequenced genome of <i>Holospora curviuscula</i>, a macronuclear symbiont of <i>Paramecium bursaria</i>, and known genomes of other <i>Holospora</i> species shows that even though all <i>Holospora</i> spp. can persist outside the host, they cannot synthesize most of the essential small molecules, such as amino acids, and lack some central energy metabolic pathways, including glycolysis and the citric acid cycle. As the main energy source, <i>Holospora</i> spp. likely rely on nucleotides pirated from the host. <i>Holospora</i>-specific genes absent from other <i>Rickettsiales</i> are possibly involved in the lifestyle switch from the infectious to the reproductive form and in cell invasion.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Holospora, Rickettsiales, endosymbionts, paramecia, ciliates, nuclear symbionts, genome
Depositing User: Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited: 30 Aug 2018 08:48
Last Modified: 11 Oct 2023 06:28
DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.00738
Related URLs:
URI: https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3025682