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Aspects of energy-yielding metabolism in the aphid,Schizaphis graminum, and its endosymbiont: Detection of gene fragments potentially coding for the ATP synthaseβ-subunit and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase

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Abstract

Specialized cells within the aphid,Schizaphis graminum, contain intracellular, vesicleenclosed eubacterial endosymbionts (Buchnera aphidicola). Using oligonucleotide probes derived from conserved sequences of the ATP synthase β-subunit and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, and the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), we have amplified, cloned, and sequenced three DNA fragments. Amino acid sequence similarity indicated that two of these fragments corresponded to endosymbiont and host genes potentially coding for the β-subunit of ATP synthase. The host gene fragment contained two putative introns. The third DNA fragment corresponded to a portion of a gene coding for a glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase that was highly related to one of the enzymes fromEscherichia coli (GapA). These results indicate thatB. aphidicola may have an ATP synthase and consequently could synthesize ATP from a proton motive force generated within the intracellular vesicles of host cells containing the endosymbionts. The detection of a gene fragment coding for a protein similar to glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase suggests the presence of this glycolytic enzyme in the endosymbiont and its involvement in energy-yielding metabolism.

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  1. Department of Microbiology, University of California, 95616-8665, Davis, California, USA

    Marta A. Clark &  Paul Baumann

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  1. Marta A. Clark
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  2. Paul Baumann
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Clark, M.A., Baumann, P. Aspects of energy-yielding metabolism in the aphid,Schizaphis graminum, and its endosymbiont: Detection of gene fragments potentially coding for the ATP synthaseβ-subunit and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase. Current Microbiology 26, 233–237 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01577382

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