Comparative genomics of Serratia spp.: two paths towards endosymbiotic life.

ABSTRACT: Symbiosis is a widespread phenomenon in nature, in which insects show a great number of these associations. Buchnera aphidicola, the obligate endosymbiont of aphids, coexists in some species with another intracellular bacterium, Serratia symbiotica. Of particular interest is the case of the cedar aphid Cinara cedri, where B. aphidicola BCc and S. symbiotica SCc need each other to fulfil their symbiotic role with the insect. Moreover, various features seem to indicate that S. symbiotica SCc is closer to an obligate endosymbiont than to other facultative S. symbiotica, such as the one described for the aphid Acirthosyphon pisum (S. symbiotica SAp). This work is based on the comparative genomics of five strains of Serratia, three free-living and two endosymbiotic ones (one facultative and one

SUBMITTER: Manzano-Marin A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3471834 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature