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Revised Systematics of Holospora-Like Bacteria and Characterization of “Candidatus Gortzia infectiva”, a Novel Macronuclear Symbiont of Paramecium jenningsi

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Abstract

The genus Holospora (Rickettsiales) includes highly infectious nuclear symbionts of the ciliate Paramecium with unique morphology and life cycle. To date, nine species have been described, but a molecular characterization is lacking for most of them. In this study, we have characterized a novel Holospora-like bacterium (HLB) living in the macronuclei of a Paramecium jenningsi population. This bacterium was morphologically and ultrastructurally investigated in detail, and its life cycle and infection capabilities were described. We also obtained its 16S rRNA gene sequence and developed a specific probe for fluorescence in situ hybridization experiments. A new taxon, “Candidatus Gortzia infectiva”, was established for this HLB according to its unique characteristics and the relatively low DNA sequence similarities shared with other bacteria. The phylogeny of the order Rickettsiales based on 16S rRNA gene sequences has been inferred, adding to the available data the sequence of the novel bacterium and those of two Holospora species (Holospora obtusa and Holospora undulata) characterized for the purpose. Our phylogenetic analysis provided molecular support for the monophyly of HLBs and showed a possible pattern of evolution for some of their features. We suggested to classify inside the family Holosporaceae only HLBs, excluding other more distantly related and phenotypically different Paramecium endosymbionts.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Ms. T. Fokina for the lucky sampling in Thailand, Prof. E. Przyboś for the P. quadecaurelia identification, Prof. O. Kaltz for providing the P. caudatum cultures and the anonymous reviewers who gave very useful advices, improving the quality of this paper. S. Gabrielli is gratefully acknowledged for technical assistance in graphic artwork. This work was supported by PRIN fellowship (protocol 2008TRZSXF_002) from the Italian Research Ministry (MIUR), the Volkswagen foundation (project number: 84816), the European Commission FP7-PEOPLE-2009-IRSES project CINAR PATHOBACTER (247658) and the support actions for international academic cooperation of Pisa University (years 2011/2012).

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  1. Biology Department, Protistology-Zoology Unit, University of Pisa, Via A. Volta 4, 56126, Pisa, Italy

    Vittorio Boscaro, Sergei I. Fokin & Giulio Petroni

  2. Institute of Hydrobiology, Dresden University of Technology, Dresden, Germany

    Martina Schrallhammer

  3. Biological Institute, Stuttgart University, Stuttgart, Germany

    Michael Schweikert

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  1. Vittorio Boscaro
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  2. Sergei I. Fokin
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  5. Giulio Petroni
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Correspondence to Giulio Petroni.

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Boscaro, V., Fokin, S.I., Schrallhammer, M. et al. Revised Systematics of Holospora-Like Bacteria and Characterization of “Candidatus Gortzia infectiva”, a Novel Macronuclear Symbiont of Paramecium jenningsi . Microb Ecol 65, 255–267 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-012-0110-2

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