Publications

4481

The hyperthermophile Nanoarchaeum equitans is an obligate symbiont growing in coculture with the crenarchaeon Ignicoccus . Ribosomal protein and rRNA-based phylogenies place its branching point early in the archaeal lineage, representing the new archaeal kingdom Nanoarchaeota. The N. equitans genome (490,885 base pairs) encodes the machinery for information processing and repair, but lacks genes for lipid, cofactor, amino acid, or nucleotide biosyntheses. It is the smallest microbial genome sequenced to date, and also one of the most compact, with 95% of the DNA predicted to encode proteins or stable RNAs. Its limited biosynthetic and catabolic capacity indicates that N. equitans ' symbiotic relationship to Ignicoccus is parasitic, making it the only known archaeal parasite. Unlike the small genomes of bacterial parasites that are undergoing reductive evolution, N. equitans has few pseudogenes or extensive regions of noncoding DNA. This organism represents a basal archaeal lineage and has a highly reduced genome.

ABSTRACT During a molecular phylogenetic survey of extremely acidic (pH < 1), metal-rich acid mine drainage habitats in the Richmond Mine at Iron Mountain, Calif., we detected 16S rRNA gene sequences of a novel bacterial group belonging to the order Rickettsiales in the Alphaproteobacteria . The closest known relatives of this group (92% 16S rRNA gene sequence identity) are endosymbionts of the protist Acanthamoeba . Oligonucleotide 16S rRNA probes were designed and used to observe members of this group within acidophilic protists. To improve visualization of eukaryotic populations in the acid mine drainage samples, broad-specificity probes for eukaryotes were redesigned and combined to highlight this component of the acid mine drainage community. Approximately 4% of protists in the acid mine drainage samples contained endosymbionts. Measurements of internal pH of the protists showed that their cytosol is close to neutral, indicating that the endosymbionts may be neutrophilic. The endosymbionts had a conserved 273-nucleotide intervening sequence (IVS) in variable region V1 of their 16S rRNA genes. The IVS does not match any sequence in current databases, but the predicted secondary structure forms well-defined stem loops. IVSs are uncommon in rRNA genes and appear to be confined to bacteria living in close association with eukaryotes. Based on the phylogenetic novelty of the endosymbiont sequences and initial culture-independent characterization, we propose the name “ Candidatus Captivus acidiprotistae.” To our knowledge, this is the first report of an endosymbiotic relationship in an extremely acidic habitat.

Abstract: We collected 209 Ixodes persulcatus ticks in various regions of Russia, including the southern Urals and western and eastern Siberia. Using PCR amplification and sequencing of the citrate synthase‐encoding gene (gltA), we detected a new rickettsial genotype, which we named ‘Candidatus Rickettsia tarasevichiae.’ This bacterium was found in 9.27%, 10.0%, and 20.5% of the ticks collected in western Siberia, eastern Siberia, and the southern Urals, respectively. ‘Candidatus Rickettsia tarasevichiae’ exhibited a 98% and 96% nucleotide sequence homology, with the 16S rDNA and gltA sequence, respectively, of R. canadensis, a rickettsia previously only found in Haemaphysalis leporispalustris ticks in North America. The phylogenetic analysis of ‘Candidatus Rickettsia tarasevichiae’ and other Rickettsia species allowed the creation of a new cluster with high bootstrap values within the Rickettsia genus involving this rickettsia, R. canadensis, and three uncultured rickettsiae from plant insects.

Abstract: Ixodes ricinus harbors many infectious agents pathogenic for humans. A cause of fever is found in less than 50% of patients exposed to ticks. Investigations on 359 Ixodes ticks removed from asymptomatic patients in Northern Italy revealed the presence of a new ehrlichial agent in 10 ticks. Comparison of the 16S rRNA and the gltA gene sequences showed the organism is most closely related to Ehrlichia ruminantium. We propose this new Ehrlichia be named ‘candidatus Ehrlichia walkerii.’