Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences


Publications
15

Repeated replacement of an intrabacterial symbiont in the tripartite nested mealybug symbiosis

Citation
Husnik, McCutcheon (2016). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 113 (37)
Names
“Doolittlea endobia”
Abstract
Significance Mealybugs are plant sap-sucking insects with a nested symbiotic arrangement, where one bacterium lives inside another bacterium, which together live inside insect cells. These two bacteria, along with genes transferred from other bacteria to the insect genome, allow the insect to survive on its nutrient-poor diet. Here, we show that the innermost bacterium in this nested symbiosis was replaced several times over evolutionary history. These results show that highly integrat

Cultivation of a human-associated TM7 phylotype reveals a reduced genome and epibiotic parasitic lifestyle

Citation
He et al. (2015). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112 (1)
Names
Ca. Nanosynbacter
Abstract
Significance TM7 is one of the most enigmatic bacterial phyla among the uncultivated candidate phyla referred to as “microbial dark matter,” and it has potential pathogenic associations. We revealed molecular insights into its uncultivability and pathogenicity, as well its unique epibiotic and parasitic lifestyle phases. These novel discoveries shed significant light on the biological, ecological, and medical importance of TM7, as well as providing useful information for culturing othe

Genome streamlining and chemical defense in a coral reef symbiosis

Citation
Kwan et al. (2012). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 109 (50)
Names
“Endolissoclinum faulkneri”
Abstract
Secondary metabolites are ubiquitous in bacteria, but by definition, they are thought to be nonessential. Highly toxic secondary metabolites such as patellazoles have been isolated from marine tunicates, where their exceptional potency and abundance implies a role in chemical defense, but their biological source is unknown. Here, we describe the association of the tunicate Lissoclinum patella with a symbiotic α-proteobacterium, Candidatus

Enigmatic, ultrasmall, uncultivated Archaea

Citation
Baker et al. (2010). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 107 (19)
Names
Ca. Micrarchaeum Ca. Micrarchaeum acidiphilum
Abstract
Metagenomics has provided access to genomes of as yet uncultivated microorganisms in natural environments, yet there are gaps in our knowledge—particularly for Archaea—that occur at relatively low abundance and in extreme environments. Ultrasmall cells (<500 nm in diameter) from lineages without cultivated representatives that branch near the crenarchaeal/euryarchaeal divide have been detected in a variety of acidic ecosystems. We reconstructed composite, near-complete ~1-Mb geno

A psychrophilic crenarchaeon inhabits a marine sponge: Cenarchaeum symbiosum gen. nov., sp. nov

Citation
Preston et al. (1996). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 93 (13)
Names
“Cenarchaeum symbiosum”
Abstract
Archaea, one of the three major domains of extant life, was thought to comprise predominantly microorganisms that inhabit extreme environments, inhospitable to most Eucarya and Bacteria. However, molecular phylogenetic surveys of native microbial assemblages are beginning to indicate that the evolutionary and physiological diversity of Archaea is far greater than previously supposed. We report here the discovery and preliminary characterization of a marine archaeon that inhabits the tissues of a