A Freeloader? The Highly Eroded Yet Large Genome of the Serratia symbiotica Symbiont of Cinara strobi.

ABSTRACT: Genome reduction is pervasive among maternally inherited bacterial endosymbionts. This genome reduction can eventually lead to serious deterioration of essential metabolic pathways, thus rendering an obligate endosymbiont unable to provide essential nutrients to its host. This loss of essential pathways can lead to either symbiont complementation (sharing of the nutrient production with a novel co-obligate symbiont) or symbiont replacement (complete takeover of nutrient production by the novel symbiont). However, the process by which these two evolutionary events happen remains somewhat enigmatic by the lack of examples of intermediate stages of this process. Cinara aphids (Hemiptera: Aphididae) typically harbor two obligate bacterial symbionts: Buchnera and Serratia symbiotica. However, t

SUBMITTER: Manzano-Marin A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6125246 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature