Published in
Oxford University Press, Genome Biology and Evolution, 4(6), p. 912-920, 2014
DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evu062
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- [www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov] | PDF
- [iris.unito.it] | PDF
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- [europepmc.org] | PDF
- [www.researchgate.net] | PDF
- [www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov] | PDF
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Acetic Acid Bacteria Genomes Reveal Functional Traits for Adaptation to Life in Insect Guts
,
Elena Crotti ,
Francesco Comandatore,
Mauro Degli Esposti,
Irene Ricci,
Alberto Alma,
Guido Favia,
Claudio Bandi,
Daniele Daffonchio
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Abstract
Acetic acid bacteria (AAB) live in sugar rich environments, including food matrices, plant tissues, and the gut of sugar-feeding insects. By comparing the newly sequenced genomes of Asaia platycodi and Saccharibacter sp., symbionts of Anopheles stephensi and Apis mellifera, respectively, with those of 14 other AAB, we provide a genomic view of the evolutionary pattern of this bacterial group and clues on traits that explain the success of AAB as insect symbionts. A specific pre-adaptive trait, cytochrome bo3 ubiquinol oxidase, appears ancestral in AAB and shows a phylogeny that is congruent with that of the genomes. The functional properties of this terminal oxidase might have allowed AAB to adapt to the diverse oxygen levels of arthropod guts.