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Phylogenetic characterization of a microsporidium (Endoreticulatus sp. Zhenjiang) isolated from the silkworm, Bombyx mori

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Abstract

This study examined the morphological and molecular characteristics of the microsporidium Endoreticulatus sp. Zhenjiang, isolated from the silkworm (Bombyx mori). The fresh spores were oval, 2.9 ± 0.2 μm in length and 1.2 ± 0.2 μm in width. The complete rRNA cistron has a length of 4,432 bp (GenBank accession no. FJ772431), including the large subunit rRNA (2,460 bp), the internal transcribed spacer (187 bp), the small subunit rRNA (1,254 bp), the intergenic spacer (276 bp), and the 5S region (115 bp). The organization of the rRNA gene is 5′-LSU-ITS-SSU-IGS-5S-3′, which is reverse compared to the organization of most microsporidian rRNA regions. Phylogenetic analysis based on small subunit rRNA sequences showed that this isolate belongs to the genus Endoreticulatus, and is closely related to Glugoides intestinalis. Furthermore, both had a similar reverse arrangement of the rRNA gene. Our study provides another example of a microsporidian species with a novel organization of rRNA genes, demonstrating that the reverse arrangement is exhibited not only by the microsporidian genus Nosema but may also occur in a clade that contains the genera Endoreticulatus and Glugoides.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the earmarked fund for the Modern Agro-industry Technology Research System. We are grateful to all who provided the means for us to access free software, which we have used and cited in this article. We thanked all partners and lab members for the kindly help and criticism.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang, 212018, China

    Xiaofang Xu, Zhongyuan Shen, Feng Zhu, Hengping Tao, Xudong Tang & Li Xu

  2. Sericultural Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province, 212018, China

    Zhongyuan Shen, Xudong Tang & Li Xu

  3. The Key Laboratory of Genetic Improvement of Silkworm and Mulberry of Agricultural Ministry, Zhenjiang, 212018, China

    Zhongyuan Shen

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  1. Xiaofang Xu
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  2. Zhongyuan Shen
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  3. Feng Zhu
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  4. Hengping Tao
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Correspondence to Zhongyuan Shen.

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Fig. S1a

Transmission electron micrographs of Endoreticulatus sp. Zhenjiang. PV posterior vacuole. Scale bar = 0.2 μm (JPEG 7 kb)

High-resolution image (TIFF 1,436 kb)

Fig. S1b

Transmission electron micrographs of Endoreticulatus sp. Zhenjiang. PF polar filament. Scale bar = 0.2 μm (JPEG 7 kb)

High-resolution image (TIFF 2,106 kb)

Fig. S2

Phylogenetic analysis of the Endoreticulatus sp. Zhenjiang based on rRNA sequences. The numbers on the branches indicate the percentage of bootstrap replicates that supported the given topology based on the neighbor-joining method using MEGA 4.0 software. Encephalitozoon cuniculi was used as the outgroup (JPEG 54 kb)

High-resolution image (TIFF 1,868 kb)

Fig. S3

Phylogenetic analysis of the Endoreticulatus sp. Zhenjiang based on LSU rRNA subunit sequences. The numbers on the branches indicate the percentage of bootstrap replicates that supported the given topology based on the neighbor-joining method using MEGA 4.0 software. Encephalitozoon cuniculi was used as the outgroup (JPEG 46 kb)

High-resolution image (TIFF 1,753 kb)

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Xu, X., Shen, Z., Zhu, F. et al. Phylogenetic characterization of a microsporidium (Endoreticulatus sp. Zhenjiang) isolated from the silkworm, Bombyx mori . Parasitol Res 110, 815–819 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-011-2560-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-011-2560-8

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