Publications

symbiotic bacteria associated with stomach discs of human lice.	the symbiotic bacteria associated with the stomach disc, a large aggregate of bacteriocytes on the ventral side of the midgut, of human body and head lice were characterized. molecular phylogenetic analysis of 16s rrna gene sequences showed that the symbionts formed a distinct and well-defined clade in the gammaproteobacteria. the sequences exhibited at-biased nucleotide composition and accelerated molecular evolution. in situ hybridization revealed that in nymphs and adult males, the symbiont w ...	2006	16950915
genome sequences of the human body louse and its primary endosymbiont provide insights into the permanent parasitic lifestyle.	as an obligatory parasite of humans, the body louse (pediculus humanus humanus) is an important vector for human diseases, including epidemic typhus, relapsing fever, and trench fever. here, we present genome sequences of the body louse and its primary bacterial endosymbiont candidatus riesia pediculicola. the body louse has the smallest known insect genome, spanning 108 mb. despite its status as an obligate parasite, it retains a remarkably complete basal insect repertoire of 10,773 protein-cod ...	2010	20566863
decoding in candidatus riesia pediculicola, close to a minimal trna modification set?	a comparative genomic analysis of the recently sequenced human body louse unicellular endosymbiont candidatus riesia pediculicola with a reduced genome (582 kb), revealed that it is the only known organism that might have lost all post-transcriptional base and ribose modifications of the trna body, retaining only modifications of the anticodon-stem-loop essential for mrna decoding. such a minimal trna modification set was not observed in other insect symbionts or in parasitic unicellular bacteri ...	2012	23308034