Symbiont succession during embryonic development of the European medicinal leech, Hirudo verbana.

ABSTRACT: The European medicinal leech, Hirudo verbana, harbors simple microbial communities in the digestive tract and bladder. The colonization history, infection frequency, and growth dynamics of symbionts through host embryogenesis are described using diagnostic PCR and quantitative PCR. Symbiont species displayed diversity in temporal establishment and proliferation through leech development.

SUBMITTER: Rio RV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2772434 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature