TY - JOUR
T1 - Novel Chlamydiae and Amoebophilus endosymbionts are prevalent in wild isolates of the model social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum
AU - Haselkorn, Tamara S.
AU - Jimenez, Daniela
AU - Bashir, Usman
AU - Sallinger, Eleni
AU - Queller, David C.
AU - Strassmann, Joan E.
AU - DiSalvo, Susanne
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Authors. Environmental Microbiology Reports published by Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
PY - 2021/10
Y1 - 2021/10
N2 - Amoebae interact with bacteria in multifaceted ways. Amoeba predation can serve as a selective pressure for the development of bacterial virulence traits. Bacteria may also adapt to life inside amoebae, resulting in symbiotic relationships. Indeed, particular lineages of obligate bacterial endosymbionts have been found in different amoebae. Here, we screened an extensive collection of Dictyostelium discoideum wild isolates for the presence of these bacterial symbionts using endosymbiont specific PCR primers. We find that these symbionts are surprisingly common, identified in 42% of screened isolates (N = 730). Members of the Chlamydiae phylum are particularly prevalent, occurring in 27% of the amoeba isolated. They are novel and phylogenetically distinct from other Chlamydiae. We also found Amoebophilus symbionts in 8% of screened isolates (N = 730). Antibiotic-cured amoebae behave similarly to their Chlamydiae or Amoebophilus-infected counterparts, suggesting that these endosymbionts do not significantly impact host fitness, at least in the laboratory. We found several natural isolates were co-infected with multiple endosymbionts, with no obvious fitness effect of co-infection under laboratory conditions. The high prevalence and novelty of amoeba endosymbiont clades in the model organism D. discoideum opens the door to future research on the significance and mechanisms of amoeba–symbiont interactions.
AB - Amoebae interact with bacteria in multifaceted ways. Amoeba predation can serve as a selective pressure for the development of bacterial virulence traits. Bacteria may also adapt to life inside amoebae, resulting in symbiotic relationships. Indeed, particular lineages of obligate bacterial endosymbionts have been found in different amoebae. Here, we screened an extensive collection of Dictyostelium discoideum wild isolates for the presence of these bacterial symbionts using endosymbiont specific PCR primers. We find that these symbionts are surprisingly common, identified in 42% of screened isolates (N = 730). Members of the Chlamydiae phylum are particularly prevalent, occurring in 27% of the amoeba isolated. They are novel and phylogenetically distinct from other Chlamydiae. We also found Amoebophilus symbionts in 8% of screened isolates (N = 730). Antibiotic-cured amoebae behave similarly to their Chlamydiae or Amoebophilus-infected counterparts, suggesting that these endosymbionts do not significantly impact host fitness, at least in the laboratory. We found several natural isolates were co-infected with multiple endosymbionts, with no obvious fitness effect of co-infection under laboratory conditions. The high prevalence and novelty of amoeba endosymbiont clades in the model organism D. discoideum opens the door to future research on the significance and mechanisms of amoeba–symbiont interactions.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85108286739&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/1758-2229.12985
DO - 10.1111/1758-2229.12985
M3 - Article
C2 - 34159734
AN - SCOPUS:85108286739
SN - 1758-2229
VL - 13
SP - 708
EP - 719
JO - Environmental Microbiology Reports
JF - Environmental Microbiology Reports
IS - 5
ER -