Metabolic Contributions of an Alphaproteobacterial Endosymbiont in the Apicomplexan Cardiosporidium cionae.

ABSTRACT: Apicomplexa is a diverse protistan phylum composed almost exclusively of metazoan-infecting parasites, including the causative agents of malaria, cryptosporidiosis, and toxoplasmosis. A single apicomplexan genus, Nephromyces, was described in 2010 as a mutualist partner to its tunicate host. Here we present genomic and transcriptomic data from the parasitic sister species to this mutualist, Cardiosporidium cionae, and its associated bacterial endosymbiont. Cardiosporidium cionae and Nephromyces both infect tunicate hosts, localize to similar organs within these hosts, and maintain bacterial endosymbionts. Though many other protists are known to harbor bacterial endosymbionts, these associations are completely unknown in Apicomplexa outside of the Nephromycidae c

SUBMITTER: Hunter ES 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7737231 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature