Multicellular magnetotactic bacterial consortia are metabolically differentiated and not clonal.

ABSTRACT: Consortia of multicellular magnetotactic bacteria (MMB) are currently the only known example of bacteria without a unicellular stage in their life cycle. Because of their recalcitrance to cultivation, most previous studies of MMB have been limited to microscopic observations. To study the biology of these unique organisms in more detail, we use multiple culture-independent approaches to analyze the genomics and physiology of MMB consortia at single cell resolution. We separately sequenced the metagenomes of 22 individual MMB consortia, representing eight new species, and quantified the genetic diversity within each MMB consortium. This revealed that, counter to conventional views, cells within MMB consortia are not clonal. Single consortia metagenomes were then used to reconstruct the spec

SUBMITTER: Schaible GA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10705294 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature