Sequence Analysis of a 34.7-kb DNA Segment from the Genome of Buchnera aphidicola (Endosymbiont of Aphids) Containing groEL, dnaA, the atp operon, gidA, and rho

Abstract.

Buchnera aphidicola is a prokaryotic endosymbiont of the aphid Schizaphis graminum. From past and present nucleotide sequence analyses of the B. aphidicola genome, we have assembled a 34.7-kilobase (kb) DNA segment. This segment contains genes coding for 32 open reading frames (ORFs), which corresponded to 89.9% of the DNA. All of these ORFs could be identified with homologous regions of the Escherichia coli genome. The order of the genes with established functions was groELS–trmE–rnpA–rpmH–dnaA–dnaN–gyrB–atpCDGAHFEB–gidA–fdx–hscA– hscB–nifS–ilvDC–rep–trxA–rho. The order of genes in small DNA fragments was conserved in both B. aphidicola and E. coli. Most of these fragments were in approximately the same region of the E. coli genome. The latter organism, however, contained many additional inserted genes within and between the fragments. The results of the B. aphidicola genome analyses indicate that the endosymbiont has many properties of free-living bacteria.