Genome interdependence in insect-bacterium symbioses.docVIP

/2001/2/12/reviews/1032.1 Minireview Genome interdependence in insect-bacterium symbioses Evelyn Zientz*, rancisco J Silva? and Roy Gross* Addresses: *Lehrstuhl für Mikrobiologie, Biozentrum, Universit?t Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074 Würzburg, Germany. ?Institut Cavanilles de Biodiversitat i Biologia Evolutiva, Universitat de València, Polígon La Coma, s/n. 46980 Paterna (Valencia), Spain. Correspondence: Roy Gross. E-mail: roy@biozentrum.uni-wuerzburg.de Published: 22 November 2001 GenomeBiology 2001, 2(12):reviews1032.1–1032.6 The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at /2001/2/12/reviews/1032 ? BioMed Central Ltd (Print ISSN 1465-6906; Online ISSN 1465-6914) Abstract Symbioses between unicellular and multicellular organisms have contributed significantly to the evolution of life on Earth. As exemplified by several studies of bacterium-insect symbioses, modern genomic techniques are providing exciting new information about the molecular basis and the biological roles of these complex relationships, revealing for instance that symbionts have lost many genes for functions that are provided by the host, but that they can provide amino acids that the host cannot synthesize. Primary and secondary symbionts of insects Many insects harbor intracellular bacteria in various tissues [1-3]. So-called primary symbionts reside in specialized ?host? cells called bacteriocytes; examples include the symbio- sis of Buchnera aphidicola with aphids, of Wigglesworthia species with tsetse flies, of Carsonella ruddii with psyllids (small insects of the order Homoptera that suck sap from plant leaves), and of Blochmannia species with carpenter ants [4-7]. Bacteriocytes may form organ-like structures and are frequently associated with the midgut of the host animals. In general, primary insect-bacterium symbiosis appears to be obligate and mutually benefic