Encyclopedia of Astrobiology

2011 Edition
| Editors: Muriel Gargaud, Ricardo Amils, José Cernicharo Quintanilla, Henderson James (Jim) CleavesII, William M. Irvine, Daniele L. Pinti, Michel Viso

Endosymbiosis

Reference work entry
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-11274-4_516
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Keywords

Bacteriocyte, chloroplast, endosymbiont, mitochondria, obligate mutualism, symbiogenesis

Definition

Endosymbiosis is a symbiotic association in which one partner, generally a prokaryote symbiont, lives sequestered inside specialized eukaryotic host cells called bacteriocytes. The association is obligate for both partners.

Overview

Symbiogenesis, the evolutionary process of establishing a symbiotic association, has been one of the dominant forces in the early evolution of life on Earth. In 1967 Lynn Margulis postulated the serial endosymbiotic theory of eukaryotic  cell evolution, currently accepted with respect to the origin of  mitochondria and  chloroplasts (Margulis 1993). These two eukaryotic  organelles are beyond doubt the product of symbiogenic events between prokaryotes and primitive eukaryotes, as supported by many different types of genetic, biochemical, and phylogenetic evidence. The origin of mitochondria dates back to 2 × 109years ago, whereas chloroplasts...

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References and Further Reading

  1. Dale C, Moran NA (2006) Molecular interactions between bacterial symbionts and their host. Cell 126:453–465CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  2. Margulis L (1993) Symbiosis in cell evolution, 2nd edn. W.H. Freeman, NJ, p 452Google Scholar
  3. Moran NA et al (2008) Genomics and evolution of heritable bacterial symbionts. Ann Rev Genetics 42:165–190CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  4. Moya A et al (2008) Learning how to live together: genomic insights into prokaryote-animal symbioses. Nat Rev Genetics 9:218–229CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  5. Nakabachi A et al (2006) The 160-kilobase genome of the bacterial endosymbiont Carsonella. Science 314:267CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  6. Nowack ECM et al (2008) Chromatophore genome sequence of Paulinella sheds light on acquisition of photosynthesis by eukaryotes. Curr Bio 18:410–418CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  7. Pérez-Brocal V et al (2006) A small microbial genome: the end of a long symbiotic relationship? Science 314:312–313ADSCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  8. Wernegreen JJ (2005) For better or worse: genomic consequences of intracellular mutualism and parasitism. Curr Opin Genet Dev 15:572–583CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Institute Cavanilles for Biodiversity and Evolutionary BiologyUniversitat de ValenciaValenciaSpain