TY - JOUR

T1 - "Candidatus Gortzia shahrazadis", a novel endosymbiont of Paramecium multimicronucleatum and a revision of the biogeographical distribution of Holospora-like bacteria

AU - Serra, Valentina

AU - Fokin, Sergei I.

AU - Castelli, Michele

AU - Basuri, Charan K.

AU - Nitla, Venkatamahesh

AU - Verni, Franco

AU - Sandeep, Bhagavatula V.

AU - Kalavati, Chaganti

AU - Petroni, Giulio

PY - 2016/11/4

Y1 - 2016/11/4

N2 - Holospora spp. and "Candidatus Gortzia infectiva", known as Holospora-like bacteria (HLB), are commonly found as nuclear endosymbionts of ciliates, especially the Paramecium genus. HLB are related by phylogenetic relationships, morphological features, and life-cycles, which involve two alternating morphotypes: reproductive and infectious forms (RF, IF). In this paper we describe a novel species belonging to the "Ca. Gortzia" genus, detected in P. multimicronucleatum, a ciliate for which infection by an HLB has not been reported, discovered in India. This novel endosymbiont shows unusual and surprising features with respect to other HLB, such as large variations in IF morphology and the occasional ability to reproduce in the host cytoplasm. We propose the name of "Candidatus Gortzia shahrazadis" for this novel HLB. Moreover, we report two additional species of HLB from Indian Paramecium populations: "Ca. Gortzia infectiva" (from P. jenningsi), and H. obtusa (from P. caudatum); the latter is the first record of Holospora from a tropical country. Although tropical, we retrieved H. obtusa at an elevation of 706 m corresponding to a moderate climate not unlike conditions where Holospora are normally found, suggesting the genus Holospora does exist in tropical countries, but restricted to higher elevations.

AB - Holospora spp. and "Candidatus Gortzia infectiva", known as Holospora-like bacteria (HLB), are commonly found as nuclear endosymbionts of ciliates, especially the Paramecium genus. HLB are related by phylogenetic relationships, morphological features, and life-cycles, which involve two alternating morphotypes: reproductive and infectious forms (RF, IF). In this paper we describe a novel species belonging to the "Ca. Gortzia" genus, detected in P. multimicronucleatum, a ciliate for which infection by an HLB has not been reported, discovered in India. This novel endosymbiont shows unusual and surprising features with respect to other HLB, such as large variations in IF morphology and the occasional ability to reproduce in the host cytoplasm. We propose the name of "Candidatus Gortzia shahrazadis" for this novel HLB. Moreover, we report two additional species of HLB from Indian Paramecium populations: "Ca. Gortzia infectiva" (from P. jenningsi), and H. obtusa (from P. caudatum); the latter is the first record of Holospora from a tropical country. Although tropical, we retrieved H. obtusa at an elevation of 706 m corresponding to a moderate climate not unlike conditions where Holospora are normally found, suggesting the genus Holospora does exist in tropical countries, but restricted to higher elevations.

KW - Bacteria

KW - Distribution

KW - Endosymbiosis

KW - Gortzia

KW - Holospora

KW - India

KW - Paramecium

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85006760055&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.3389/fmicb.2016.01704

DO - 10.3389/fmicb.2016.01704

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85006760055

VL - 7

JO - Frontiers in Microbiology

JF - Frontiers in Microbiology

SN - 1664-302X

IS - NOV

M1 - 1704

ER -