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Jerlström-Hultqvist J, Gallot-Lavallée L, Salas-Leiva DE, Curtis BA, Záhonová K, Čepička I, Stairs CW, Pipaliya S, Dacks JB, Archibald JM, Roger AJ
Nat Commun 15 (1) 9726 [2024-11-09; online 2024-11-09]
Symbiotic relationships between eukaryotes and prokaryotes played pivotal roles in the evolution of life and drove the emergence of specialized symbiotic structures in animals, plants and fungi. The host-evolved symbiotic structures of microbial eukaryotes - the vast majority of such hosts in nature - remain largely unstudied. Here we describe highly structured symbiosomes within three free-living anaerobic protists (Anaeramoeba spp.). We dissect this symbiosis using complete genome sequencing and transcriptomics of host and symbiont cells coupled with fluorescence in situ hybridization, and 3D reconstruction using focused-ion-beam scanning electron microscopy. The emergence of the symbiosome is underpinned by expansion of gene families encoding regulators of membrane trafficking and phagosomal maturation and extensive bacteria-to-eukaryote lateral transfer. The symbionts reside deep within a symbiosomal membrane network that enables metabolic syntrophy by precisely positioning sulfate-reducing bacteria alongside host hydrogenosomes. Importantly, the symbionts maintain connections to the Anaeramoeba plasma membrane, blurring traditional boundaries between ecto- and endosymbiosis.
Integrated Microscopy Technologies Umeå [Service]
PubMed 39521804
DOI 10.1038/s41467-024-54102-7
Crossref 10.1038/s41467-024-54102-7
pmc: PMC11550330
pii: 10.1038/s41467-024-54102-7