The Symbiome of Llaveia Cochineals (Hemiptera: Coccoidea: Monophlebidae) Includes a Gammaproteobacterial Cosymbiont Sodalis TME1 and the Known Candidatus Walczuchella monophlebidarum

Abstract

The genome and transcriptome of the endosymbiotic flavobacterium Candidatus Walczuchella monophlebidarum revealed its role in the synthesis of essential amino acids for its host, the wax cochineal Llaveia axin axin. There were, however, missing genes in the endosymbiont for some biosynthetic pathways. Here, we characterized TME1, another cochineal symbiont that may metabolically complement Walczuchella. TME1 was ascribed to the gammaproteobacterial genus Sodalis on a phylogenomic basis using gene sequences from 143 proteins core genome sequences and the core average nucleotide identity (ANI) confirmed its position. Additionally, we describe Sodalis as a coherent genus. TME1 genome is around 3.4 Mb and has complete gene sequences for the biosynthesis of 10 essential amino acids, for polyamines, flagella, nitrate respiration, and detoxification among many others. Transcripts from ovaries and bacteriomes allowed the identification of differentially transcribed genes from the endosymbionts and host. Highly transcribed genes were identified in TME1 and transcripts involved in amino acid biosynthesis were found. We review here that cosymbionts that derived from different bacterial classes and genera seem to be advantageous for insects that have Flavobacteria as the primary endosymbionts.

A Tale of Three Species: Adaptation of Sodalis glossinidius to Tsetse Biology, Wigglesworthia Metabolism, and Host Diet

“…This suggests an adaptation to symbiosis with certain insects. It is important to note that S. glossinidius is unusual in that it can function as either a primary or secondary symbiont depending on the insect host, and therefore, interspecies comparisons should be treated with caution (44). Thiamine is a cofactor for many enzymes, including pyruvate dehydrogenase (45), that are essential in i LF517.…”

Metatranscriptomic Analysis of the Bacterial Symbiont Dactylopiibacterium carminicum from the Carmine Cochineal Dactylopius coccus (Hemiptera: Coccoidea: Dactylopiidae)

“…Genes for aromatic amino acids transport found expressed in hemolymph bacteria suggest that they are the providers of essential amino acids to the host. A spermidine synthase gene was up-regulated in hemolymph (Tables S2 and S3b), and spermidine biosynthesis and transport genes were found in the genome of Sodalis , which is a secondary endosymbiont in the related wax cochineal [77]. Spermidine may contribute to host colonization and has important functions in the bacterium [78].…”

Ecological Divergence Within the Enterobacterial Genus Sodalis: From Insect Symbionts to Inhabitants of Decomposing Deadwood

“…Further analysis was focused on Sodalis strains with large genomes while those symbionts which are in the advanced reductive evolution process were excluded from the analysis because of their smaller genomes with significantly distinct gene compositions (Santos-Garcia et al, 2017). Selected genomes are summarized in Supplementary Table 1 and consist of Sodalis sensu stricto strains from unpublished as well as published studies (Toh et al, 2006;Chrudimský et al, 2012;Clayton et al, 2012;Oakeson et al, 2014;Rosas-Pérez et al, 2017;Rubin et al, 2018). Genomes were subsequently analyzed within pangenome analysis in anvi'o 6.2 (Eren et al, 2015, see the "Code Availability" section) to identify deadwood-associated genes and genes shared by all the genomes.…”