Search results for "Symbiotic"
showing 10 items of 64 documents
Grain legume seed filling in relation to nitrogen acquisition: A review and prospects with particular reference to pea
2001
International audience; Seed filling depends not only on the instantaneous supply of C and N, but also on their remobilisation from vegetative organs. C supply during seed filling depends mostly on current photosynthesis, but N assimilation and N$_2$ fixation decline during seed filling, with newly acquired N generally insufficient for the high seed demand. As seeds are strong sinks for mobilised nutrients, seed growth becomes metabolically closely associated with N remobilisation. N remobilisation from vegetative tissues to filling seeds interacts with photosynthesis since it induces senescence, which reduces the seed filling period. Hence improved grain legume seed filling requires either…
Coexistence of Wolbachia with Buchnera aphidicola and a Secondary Symbiont in the Aphid Cinara cedri
2004
ABSTRACT Intracellular symbiosis is very common in the insect world. For the aphid Cinara cedri , we have identified by electron microscopy three symbiotic bacteria that can be characterized by their different sizes, morphologies, and electrodensities. PCR amplification and sequencing of the 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) genes showed that, in addition to harboring Buchnera aphidicola , the primary endosymbiont of aphids, C. cedri harbors a secondary symbiont (S symbiont) that was previously found to be associated with aphids (PASS, or R type) and an α-proteobacterium that belongs to the Wolbachia genus. Using in situ hybridization with specific bacterial probes designed for symbiont 16S rDNA seq…
Why are the genomes of endosymbiotic bacteria so stable?
2003
The comparative analysis of three strains of the endosymbiotic bacterium Buchnera aphidicola has revealed high genome stability associated with an almost complete absence of chromosomal rearrangements and horizontal gene transfer events during the past 150 million years. The loss of genes involved in DNA uptake and recombination in the initial stages of endosymbiosis probably underlies this stability. Gene loss, which was extensive during the initial steps of Buchnera evolution, has continued in the different Buchnera lineages since their divergence.
The evolution of the heat-shock protein GroEL from Buchnera, the primary endosymbiont of aphids, is governed by positive selection
2002
The heat-shock protein GroEL is a double-ring-structured chaperonin that assists the folding of many newly synthesized proteins in Escherichia coli and the refolding in vitro, with the cochaperonin GroES, of conformationally damaged proteins. This protein is constitutively overexpressed in the primary symbiotic bacteria of many insects, constituting approximately 10% of the total protein in Buchnera, the primary endosymbiont of aphids. In the present study, we perform a maximum likelihood (ML) analysis to unveil the selective constraints in GroEL. In addition, we apply a new statistical approach to determine the patterns of evolution in this highly interesting protein. The main conclusion d…
Ethidium bromide: a fast fluorescent staining procedure for the detection of symbiotic partnership of flagellates and prokaryotes
1999
The hindgut of 'lower' termites harbors a dense population of flagellates and bacteria. The flagellates possess ecto- and endosymbiotic prokaryotes. Most of them are hardly visible in the phase contrast microscope. Staining with the DNA-intercalating agent ethidium bromide visualizes the nuclei of the flagellates as well as the ecto- and endosymbiotic bacteria as red objects. Furthermore, it is possible to distinguish between endosymbiotic methanogens and other bacteria. Following UV excitation, the blue-green autofluorescence of the methanogenic bacteria eclipses the red fluorescence light of the intercalated ethidium bromide. The dye facilitates the observation of symbiotic bacteria and h…
Oxygen as a morphogenic factor in sponges: expression of a tyrosinase gene in the sponge Suberites domuncula
2004
Sponges live in a symbiotic relationship with microorganisms, especially bacteria. Here we show, using the demosponge Suberites domuncula as a model, that the sponge expresses the enzyme tyrosinase which synthesizes diphenols from monophenolic compounds. It is assumed that these products serve as carbon source for symbiotic bacteria to grow.
Genomic determinants of protein folding thermodynamics in prokaryotic organisms.
2004
Here we investigate how thermodynamic properties of orthologous proteins are influenced by the genomic environment in which they evolve. We performed a comparative computational study of 21 protein families in 73 prokaryotic species and obtained the following main results. (i) Protein stability with respect to the unfolded state and with respect to misfolding are anticorrelated. There appears to be a trade-off between these two properties, which cannot be optimized simultaneously. (ii) Folding thermodynamic parameters are strongly correlated with two genomic features, genome size and G+C composition. In particular, the normalized energy gap, an indicator of folding efficiency in statistical…
Retama species growing in different ecological-climatic areas of northeastern Algeria have a narrow range of rhizobia that form a novel phylogenetic …
2009
International audience; Sixty-seven isolates were isolated from nodules collected on roots of Mediterranean shrubby legumes Retama raetam and Retama sphaerocarpa growing in seven ecological-climatic areas of northeastern Algeria. Genetic diversity of the Retama isolates was analyzed based on genotyping by restriction fragment length polymorphism of PCR-amplified fragments of the 16S rRNA gene, the intergenic spacer (IGS) region between the 16S and 23S rRNA genes (IGS), and the symbiotic genes nifH and nodC. Eleven haplotypes assigned to the Bradyrhizobium genus were identified. Significant biogeographical differentiation of the rhizobial populations was found, but one haplotype was predomin…
An abundance analysis of the symbiotic star CH Cyg
2005
The photospheric abundances for the cool component of the symbiotic star CH Cyg were calculated for the first time using high-resolution near-infrared spectra and the method of of standard LTE analysis and atmospheric models. The iron abundance for CH Cyg was found to be solar, [Fe/H] = 0.0+/-0.19. The atmospheric parameters and metallicity for CH Cyg are found to be approximately equal to those for nearby field M7 giants. The calculated [C/H] = -0.15, [N/H] = +0.16, [O/H] = -0.07, and the isotopic ratios of 12C/13C and 16O/17O are close to the mean values for single M giants that have experienced the first dredge-up. A reasonable explanation for the absence of barium star-like chemical pec…
Paratransgenic manipulation of a tsetse microRNA alters the physiological homeostasis of the fly’s midgut environment
2021
Tsetse flies are vectors of parasitic African trypanosomes, the etiological agents of human and animal African trypanosomoses. Current disease control methods include fly-repelling pesticides, fly trapping, and chemotherapeutic treatment of infected people and animals. Inhibiting tsetse’s ability to transmit trypanosomes by strengthening the fly’s natural barriers can serve as an alternative approach to reduce disease. The peritrophic matrix (PM) is a chitinous and proteinaceous barrier that lines the insect midgut and serves as a protective barrier that inhibits infection with pathogens. African trypanosomes must cross tsetse’s PM in order to establish an infection in the fly, and PM struc…