Bacterial endosymbiosis in a chordate host: long-term co-evolution and conservation of secondary metabolism.

ABSTRACT: Intracellular symbiosis is known to be widespread in insects, but there are few described examples in other types of host. These symbionts carry out useful activities such as synthesizing nutrients and conferring resistance against adverse events such as parasitism. Such symbionts persist through host speciation events, being passed down through vertical transmission. Due to various evolutionary forces, symbionts go through a process of genome reduction, eventually resulting in tiny genomes where only those genes essential to immediate survival and those beneficial to the host remain. In the marine environment, invertebrates such as tunicates are known to harbor complex microbiomes implicated in the production of natural products that are toxic and probably serve a defensive function. Here

SUBMITTER: Kwan JC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3851785 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature