Different levels of transcriptional regulation due to trophic constraints in the reduced genome of Buchnera aphidicola APS.

ABSTRACT: Symbiotic associations involving intracellular microorganisms and animals are widespread, especially for species feeding on poor or unbalanced diets. Buchnera aphidicola, the obligate intracellular bacterium associated with most aphid species, provides its hosts with essential amino acids (EAAs), nutrients in short supply in the plant phloem sap. The Buchnera genome has undergone severe reductions during intracellular evolution. Genes for EAA biosynthesis are conserved, but most of the transcriptional regulatory elements are lost. This work addresses two main questions: is transcription in Buchnera (i) regulated and (ii) scaled to aphid EAA demand? Two microarray experiments were designed for profiling the gene expression in Buchnera. The first one was characterized by a specific depletion

SUBMITTER: Reymond N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1694209 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature