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Strassert JFH, Mikaelyan A, Woyke T, et al. Genome analysis of 'Candidatus Ancillula trichonymphae', first representative of a deep-branching clade of Bifidobacteriales, strengthens evidence for convergent evolution in flagellate endosymbionts. Environ Microbiol Rep. 2016;8(5):865-873doi: 10.1111/1758-2229.12451.
Strassert, J. F. H., Mikaelyan, A., Woyke, T., & Brune, A. (2016). Genome analysis of 'Candidatus Ancillula trichonymphae', first representative of a deep-branching clade of Bifidobacteriales, strengthens evidence for convergent evolution in flagellate endosymbionts. Environmental microbiology reports, 8(5), 865-873. https://doi.org/10.1111/1758-2229.12451
Strassert, Jürgen F H, et al. "Genome analysis of 'Candidatus Ancillula trichonymphae', first representative of a deep-branching clade of Bifidobacteriales, strengthens evidence for convergent evolution in flagellate endosymbionts." Environmental microbiology reports vol. 8,5 (2016): 865-873. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/1758-2229.12451
Strassert JFH, Mikaelyan A, Woyke T, Brune A. Genome analysis of 'Candidatus Ancillula trichonymphae', first representative of a deep-branching clade of Bifidobacteriales, strengthens evidence for convergent evolution in flagellate endosymbionts. Environ Microbiol Rep. 2016 Oct;8(5):865-873. doi: 10.1111/1758-2229.12451. Epub 2016 Sep 07. PMID: 27518440.
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Environ Microbiol Rep. 2016 Oct;8(5):865-873. doi: 10.1111/1758-2229.12451. Epub 2016 Sep 07.

Genome analysis of 'Candidatus Ancillula trichonymphae', first representative of a deep-branching clade of Bifidobacteriales, strengthens evidence for convergent evolution in flagellate endosymbionts.

Environmental microbiology reports

Jürgen F H Strassert, Aram Mikaelyan, Tanja Woyke, Andreas Brune

Affiliations

  1. Department of Biogeochemistry, Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Marburg, Germany.
  2. U.S. Department of Energy, Joint Genome Institute, Walnut Creek, CA, USA.

PMID: 27518440 DOI: 10.1111/1758-2229.12451

Abstract

The flagellate protists in the hindgut of lower termites play an essential role in the digestion of lignocellulose. Most flagellate species are associated with host-specific symbionts from various bacterial lineages, which typically lack cultured representatives. In this study, we analyzed the genome of 'Candidatus Ancillula trichonymphae', an endosymbiont of Trichonympha flagellates from dry-wood termites, which represents a novel, family-level lineage of uncultured Actinobacteria encountered so far only in termite guts. The draft genome of 'Ca. A. trichonymphae' (ca. 1.48 Mbp; 95% complete) revealed a purely fermentative metabolism that is probably fueled by xylose, N-acetyl-glucosamine and glycerol 3-phosphate acquired from the flagellate host. The absence of fructose bisphosphate aldolase and the presence of a complete gene set encoding the phosphoketolase pathway underscore the sister position of the new lineage to Bifidobacteriaceae. The preservation of the pathways for the assimilation of ammonia and the synthesis of 18 amino acids and several cofactors and vitamins suggests that 'Ca. A. trichonymphae' - like other endosymbionts of termite gut flagellates - provides essential amino acids and vitamins to its host. Our findings corroborate the emerging concept that numerous lineages of unrelated flagellate endosymbionts have convergently evolved to fill similar ecological niches.

© 2016 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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