Klein, Antonia and Schrader, Lukas and Gil, Rosario and Manzano-Marin, Alejandro and Florez, Laura and Wheeler, David and Werren, John H. and Latorre, Amparo and Heinze, Juergen and Kaltenpoth, Martin and Moya, Andres and Oettler, Jan (2016) A novel intracellular mutualistic bacterium in the invasive ant Cardiocondyla obscurior. ISME JOURNAL, 10 (2). pp. 376-388. ISSN 1751-7362, 1751-7370
Full text not available from this repository. (Request a copy)Abstract
The evolution of eukaryotic organisms is often strongly influenced by microbial symbionts that confer novel traits to their hosts. Here we describe the intracellular Enterobacteriaceae symbiont of the invasive ant Cardiocondyla obscurior, 'Candidatus Westeberhardia cardiocondylae'. Upon metamorphosis, Westeberhardia is found in gut-associated bacteriomes that deteriorate following eclosion. Only queens maintain Westeberhardia in the ovarian nurse cells from where the symbionts are transmitted to late-stage oocytes during nurse cell depletion. Functional analyses of the streamlined genome of Westeberhardia (533 kb, 23.41% GC content) indicate that neither vitamins nor essential amino acids are provided for the host. However, the genome encodes for an almost complete shikimate pathway leading to 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate, which could be converted into tyrosine by the host. Taken together with increasing titers of Westeberhardia during pupal stage, this suggests a contribution of Westeberhardia to cuticle formation. Despite a widespread occurrence of Westeberhardia across host populations, one ant lineage was found to be naturally symbiont-free, pointing to the loss of an otherwise prevalent endosymbiont. This study yields insights into a novel intracellular mutualist that could play a role in the invasive success of C. obscurior.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | TRANSFER-RNA GENES; BLOCHMANNIA-FLORIDANUS; TSETSE-FLIES; CAMPONOTUS-FLORIDANUS; SYMBIOTIC BACTERIA; SEX-DETERMINATION; SYSTEMS BIOLOGY; GENOME SEQUENCE; CARPENTER ANTS; HOST; |
| Subjects: | 500 Science > 590 Zoological sciences |
| Divisions: | Biology, Preclinical Medicine > Institut für Zoologie > Zoologie/Evolutionsbiologie (Prof. Dr. Jürgen Heinze) |
| Depositing User: | Dr. Gernot Deinzer |
| Date Deposited: | 14 Mar 2019 10:04 |
| Last Modified: | 14 Mar 2019 10:04 |
| URI: | https://pred.uni-regensburg.de/id/eprint/2495 |
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