Genomic revelations of a mutualism: the pea aphid and its obligate bacterial symbiont

✍ Scribed by Shuji Shigenobu; Alex C. C. Wilson

• Book ID: 105759457
• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 2011
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 590 KB
• Volume: 68
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1420-682X
• DOI: 10.1007/s00018-011-0645-2

✦ Synopsis

The symbiosis of the pea aphid Acyrthosphion pisum with the bacterium Buchnera aphidicola APS represents the best-studied insect obligate symbiosis. Here we present a refined picture of this symbiosis by linking pre-genomic observations to new genomic data that includes the complete genomes of the eukaryotic and prokaryotic symbiotic partners. In doing so, we address four issues central to understanding the patterns and processes operating at the A. pisum/Buchnera APS interface. These four issues include: (1) lateral gene transfer, (2) host immunity, (3) symbiotic metabolism, and (4) regulation.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00018-011-0645-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.