Novel bacteriocyte-associated pleomorphic symbiont of the grain pest beetle Rhyzopertha dominica (Coleoptera: Bostrichidae).

Genta OkudeRyuichi KogaToshinari HayashiYudai NishideXian-Ying MengNaruo NikohAkihiro MiyanoshitaTakema Fukatsu
Published in: Zoological letters (2017)
We demonstrate that the symbiont of R. dominica constitutes a novel bacterial lineage in the Bacteroidetes. We propose that reductive evolution of the symbiont genome may be relevant to the amorphous morphology of the bacterial cells via disruption of genes involved in cell wall synthesis and cell division. Genomic and functional aspects of the host-symbiont relationship deserve future studies.