| strict host-symbiont cospeciation and reductive genome evolution in insect gut bacteria. | host-symbiont cospeciation and reductive genome evolution have been identified in obligate endocellular insect symbionts, but no such example has been identified from extracellular ones. here we first report such a case in stinkbugs of the family plataspidae, wherein a specific gut bacterium is vertically transmitted via "symbiont capsule." in all of the plataspid species, females produced symbiont capsules upon oviposition and their gut exhibited specialized traits for capsule production. phylo ... | 2006 | 17032065 |
| how many symbionts are provided by mothers, acquired by offspring, and needed for successful vertical transmission in an obligate insect-bacterium mutualism? | vertical symbiont transmission is among the most pivotal processes for maintenance of symbiotic associations. however, it is poorly understood whether and how the levels of resource allocation and investment upon vertical transmission are regulated. the stinkbug megacopta punctatissima is obligatorily associated with the gut symbiotic bacterium 'candidatus ishikawaella capsulata', whose transmission is mediated by a unique mechanism called 'symbiont capsule'. we investigated the population dynam ... | 2007 | 18028305 |
| host-symbiont co-speciation and reductive genome evolution in gut symbiotic bacteria of acanthosomatid stinkbugs. | host-symbiont co-speciation and reductive genome evolution have been commonly observed among obligate endocellular insect symbionts, while such examples have rarely been identified among extracellular ones, the only case reported being from gut symbiotic bacteria of stinkbugs of the family plataspidae. considering that gut symbiotic communities are vulnerable to invasion of foreign microbes, gut symbiotic associations have been thought to be evolutionarily not stable. stinkbugs of the family aca ... | 2009 | 19146674 |
| reductive evolution of bacterial genome in insect gut environment. | obligate endocellular symbiotic bacteria of insects and other organisms generally exhibit drastic genome reduction. recently, it was shown that symbiotic gut bacteria of some stinkbugs also have remarkably reduced genomes. here, we report the complete genome sequence of such a gut bacterium ishikawaella capsulata of the plataspid stinkbug megacopta punctatissima. gene repertoire and evolutionary patterns, including at richness and elevated evolutionary rate, of the 745,590 bp genome were strikin ... | 2011 | 21737395 |
| multiple origins of endosymbiosis within the enterobacteriaceae (gamma-proteobacteria): convergence of complex phylogenetic approaches. | abstract: background: the bacterial family enterobacteriaceae gave rise to a variety of symbiotic forms, from the loosely associated commensals, often designated as secondary (s) symbionts, to obligate mutualists, called primary (p) symbionts. determination of the evolutionary processes behind this phenomenon has long been hampered by the unreliability of phylogenetic reconstructions within this group of bacteria. the main reasons have been the absence of sufficient data, the highly derived nat ... | 2011 | 22201529 |