6533b7defe1ef96bd1275d7c
RESEARCH PRODUCT
The genome sequence of Blochmannia floridanus: Comparative analysis of reduced genomes
Judith KamerbeekEvelyn ZientzRoeland C. H. J. Van HamRoeland C. H. J. Van HamFernando González-candelasFrançois DelmotteFrançois DelmotteAmparo LatorreCarolina RausellCarolina RausellAndrés MoyaRosario GilJürgen GadauFrancisco J. SilvaBert HölldoblerRoy Grosssubject
replicationInsectafood.ingredientMolecular Sequence DataBlochmanniaselectionWigglesworthia glossinidiaModels BiologicalGenomeescherichia-coli k-12Open Reading FramesfoodPhylogeneticsevolutionAnimalsGenebuchneraPhylogenyGeneticsMultidisciplinaryPhylogenetic treebiologyphylogenetic analysisSequence Analysis DNABiological Sciencesbiology.organism_classificationDnaAproteinsgene-clusterPRI Bioscienceaphidsendosymbiotic bacteriaBuchneraGammaproteobacteriaGenome Bacterialdescription
Bacterial symbioses are widespread among insects, probably being one of the key factors of their evolutionary success. We present the complete genome sequence of Blochmannia floridanus , the primary endosymbiont of carpenter ants. Although these ants feed on a complex diet, this symbiosis very likely has a nutritional basis: Blochmannia is able to supply nitrogen and sulfur compounds to the host while it takes advantage of the host metabolic machinery. Remarkably, these bacteria lack all known genes involved in replication initiation ( dna A, pri A, and rec A). The phylogenetic analysis of a set of conserved protein-coding genes shows that Bl. floridanus is phylogenetically related to Buchnera aphidicola and Wigglesworthia glossinidia , the other endosymbiotic bacteria whose complete genomes have been sequenced so far. Comparative analysis of the five known genomes from insect endosymbiotic bacteria reveals they share only 313 genes, a number that may be close to the minimum gene set necessary to sustain endosymbiotic life.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003-01-01 |