BACKGROUND Mitochondria or mitochondrion-derived organelles are found in all eukaryotes with the exception of secondary or tertiary plastid endosymbionts. In these highly reduced systems, the mitochondrion has been lost in all cases except the diatom endosymbionts found in a small group of dinoflagellates, called 'dinotoms', the only cells with two evolutionarily distinct mitochondria. To inves...

Not only are transposable elements profuse in the bacterial endosymbiont of maize weevils, but we found that their quantities also vary approximately 10-fold among individual weevils. Because multicopy elements can facilitate homologous recombination, this insertion sequence (IS) load variability suggests that these essentially asexual bacteria may exhibit substantial intraspecific genomic vari...

Here, we describe the draft genome sequence of Xenorhabdus sp. GDc328, an endosymbiont of the native South African entomopathogenic nematode host, Steinernema khoisanae. The total genome size of the bacteria is 4.09 Mb. The genome comprises a total of 3,608 genes with a molecular G+C content of 44.64%.

Here, we report the draft genome sequence of high-temperature-adapted Protochlamydia sp. strain HS-T3, an environmental chlamydia. This bacterium is an amoebal endosymbiont, found in Acanthamoeba isolated from a hot spring in Japan. Strain HS-T3 readily grew in mammalian cells at 37°C, a characteristic not previously reported for environmental chlamydiae.

Using ameba coculture, we grew a Naegleria endosymbiont. Phenotypic, genetic, and phylogenetic analyses supported its affiliation as Protochlamydia naegleriophila sp. nov. We then developed a specific diagnostic PCR for Protochlamydia spp. When applied to bronchoalveolar lavages, results of this PCR were positive for 1 patient with pneumonia. Further studies are needed to assess the role of Pro...

In total, 394 questing adult blacklegged ticks, Ixodes scapularis Say (Acari: Ixodidae), collected at four sites were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for five microbial species: Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Babesia microti, Babesia odocoilei, Borrelia burgdorferi, and the rickettsial I. scapularis endosymbiont. Identities of genetic variants of A. phagocytophilum were determined by se...