"Candidatus Curculioniphilus buchneri," a novel clade of bacterial endocellular symbionts from weevils of the genus Curculio.

ABSTRACT: Here we investigated the bacterial endosymbionts of weevils of the genus Curculio. From all four species of Curculio weevils examined, a novel group of bacterial gene sequences were consistently identified. Molecular phylogenetic analyses demonstrated that the sequences formed a distinct clade in the Gammaproteobacteria, which was not related to previously known groups of weevil endosymbionts such as Nardonella spp. and Sodalis-allied symbionts. In situ hybridization revealed that the bacterium was intracellularly harbored in a bacteriome associated with larval midgut. In adult females, the bacterium was localized in the germalia at the tip of each overiole, suggesting vertical transmission via ovarial passage. Diagnostic PCR surveys detected high prevalence of the bacterial infection in n

SUBMITTER: Toju H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2798621 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature