Search results for "Blatta"
showing 9 items of 19 documents
What does Cryptocercus kyebangensis, n.sp. (Dictyoptera: Blattaria: Polyphagidae) from Korea reveal about Cryptocercus evolution? A study in morpholo…
2001
doi: 10.1635/0097-3157(2001)151[0061:WDCKNS]2.0.CO;2 0097-3157 doi: 10.1635/0097-3157(2001)151[0061:WDCKNS]2.0.CO;2; The description of a new species of the woodroach Cryptocercus kyebangensis Grandcolas from South Korea offers the opportunity to bring comparative information within the genus. This species, though morphologically very similar to other East Asian and North American species, presents conspicuous differentiation of both ribosomal genes (sequenced fragments of 12S and 16S) and chemical blends from tergal glands (proportions of linalyl acetate and the alcohol 4, 6, 8-trimethyl-7, 9-undecadien-5-ol, compounds previously identified in females originating from North America). A phy…
Metabolic stasis in an ancient symbiosis: genome-scale metabolic networks from two Blattabacterium cuenoti strains, primary endosymbionts of cockroac…
2012
Abstract Background Cockroaches are terrestrial insects that strikingly eliminate waste nitrogen as ammonia instead of uric acid. Blattabacterium cuenoti (Mercier 1906) strains Bge and Pam are the obligate primary endosymbionts of the cockroaches Blattella germanica and Periplaneta americana, respectively. The genomes of both bacterial endosymbionts have recently been sequenced, making possible a genome-scale constraint-based reconstruction of their metabolic networks. The mathematical expression of a metabolic network and the subsequent quantitative studies of phenotypic features by Flux Balance Analysis (FBA) represent an efficient functional approach to these uncultivable bacteria. Resul…
Unraveling assemblage, functions and stability of the gut microbiota of Blattella germanica by antibiotic treatment
2020
Symbiosis between prokaryotes and eukaryotes is a widespread phenomenon that has contributed to the evolution of eukaryotes. In cockroaches, two types of symbionts coexist: an endosymbiont in the fat body (Blattabacterium), and a rich gut microbiota. The transmission mode of Blattabacterium is vertical, while the gut microbiota of a new generation is mainly formed by bacterial species present in feces. We have carried out a metagenomic analysis of Blattella germanica populations, treated and non-treated with two antibiotics (vancomycin and ampicillin) over two generations to (1) determine the core of bacterial communities and potential functions of the gut microbiota and (2) to gain insight…
Comparative Genomics of Blattabacterium cuenoti: The Frozen Legacy of an Ancient Endosymbiont Genome
2013
Many insect species have established long-term symbiotic relationships with intracellular bacteria. Symbiosis with bacteria has provided insects with novel ecological capabilities, which have allowed them colonize previously unexplored niches. Despite its importance to the understanding of the emergence of biological complexity, the evolution of symbiotic relationships remains hitherto a mystery in evolutionary biology. In this study, we contribute to the investigation of the evolutionary leaps enabled by mutualistic symbioses by sequencing the genome of Blattabacterium cuenoti, primary endosymbiont of the omnivorous cockroach Blatta orientalis, and one of the most ancient symbiotic associa…
Pathogenicity of intrathoracically administrated Bacillus thuringiensis spores in Blatta orientalis.
2006
Abstract The ability of Bacillus thuringiensis to produce septicaemia in Periplaneta americana and Blatta orientalis has been investigated. Spores and crystals from several wild-type strains as well as spores of a B. thuringiensis crystal-deficient mutant, were first orally administrated at high doses, and no significant mortality was recorded. Intrathoracic injection of spore suspensions in P. americana revealed that this species is not very susceptible to B. thuringiensis spores. B. orientalis , by contrast, was found to be very susceptible to B. thuringiensis , with a LD 50 of about 35,000 spores, that is similar to that reported on Lepidoptera challenged with parenterally injected B. th…
Understanding the dialog between the gut microbiota and the endosymbiont in the model system Blattella germanica
2020
Aquesta tesi doctoral forma part de la investigació sobre l’evolució de la simbiosi en insectes realitzada durant molts anys pel grup de Genètica Evolutiva de la Universitat de València. L’organisme model utilitzat en aquest estudi és la panerola alemanya, Blattella germanica, un insecte omnívor i cosmopolita. La panerola alemanya posseeix dos simbionts: un endosimbiont, Blattabacterium, i una microbiota intestinal complexa. La funció de l’endosimbiont ha estat proposada prèviament com a la producció de metabòlits essencials mitjançant el reciclatge del nitrogen a través de la via ureolítica. Aquesta panerola comparteix la font d’aliment i l’ambient amb els humans, cosa que podria explicar …
The cockroach Blattella germanica obtains nitrogen from uric acid through a metabolic pathway shared with its bacterial endosymbiont.
2014
Uric acid storedin the fat bodyof cockroaches is a nitrogen reservoirmobilized in times of scarcity. The discovery of urease in Blattabacterium cuenoti, the primary endosymbiont of cockroaches, suggests that the endosymbiont may participate in cockroach nitrogen economy. However, bacterial urease may only be one piece in the entire nitrogen recycling process from insect uric acid. Thus, in addition to the uricolytic pathway to urea, there must be glutamine synthetase assimilating the released ammonia by the urease reaction to enable the stored nitrogen to be metabolically usable. None of the Blattabacterium genomes sequenced to date possess genes encoding for those enzymes. To test the host…
Protein and amino acid composition of the tergal gland secretions ofBlatta orientalis andEurycotis floridana (Dictyoptera: Blattidae)
1994
Summary Nymphs and adult females ofBlatta orientalis and nymphs ofEurycotis floridana produce a proteinaceous sticky secretion which accumulates on the last abdominal tergites. The proteic patterns do not differ between individuals of the same species. HPLC analyses show that all the common amino acids are found in both species, aspartic and glutamic acids representing 24 to 37% of the total amount of amino acids. InB. orientalis, glutamic acid is the more abundant amino acid whereas inE. floridana it is the aspartic acid. The secretion appears and accumulates rapidly on isolated insects. Behavioural assays revealed that these secretions have a defensive role.
Gut Microbiota Cannot Compensate the Impact of (quasi) Aposymbiosis in Blattella germanica
2021
Simple Summary The German cockroach Blattella germanica is a good model to study complex symbiotic relationships because the following two symbiotic systems coexist in a single individual: the endosymbiont Blattabacterium (living inside specialized cells called bacteriocytes) and the gut microbiota. Although the role of the endosymbiont has been fully elucidated, the function of the gut microbiota remains unclear. The study of the gut microbiota will benefit from the availability of insects deprived of Blattabacterium. Our goal is to determine the effect of the removal (or, at least, the reduction) of the endosymbiont population on the cockroach’s fitness, in a normal gut microbiota communi…