Journal
MICROBIAL ECOLOGY
Volume 61, Issue 2, Pages 455-464Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s00248-010-9772-9
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- Italian Research Ministry (MIUR) [2008TRZSXF_002]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Francisella are facultative intracellular bacteria causing severe disease in a broad range of animals. Two species are notable: Francisella tularensis, the causative organism of tularemia and a putative warfare agent, and Francisella noatunensis, an emerging fish pathogen causing significant losses in wild and farmed fish. Although various aspects of Francisella biology have been intensively studied, their natural reservoir in periods between massive outbreaks remains mysterious. Protists have been suspected to serve as a disguised vector of Francisella and co-culturing attempts demonstrate that some species are able to survive and multiply within protozoan cells. Here, we report the first finding of a natural occurrence of Francisella sp. as a protist endosymbiont. By molecular and morphological approaches, we identified intracellular bacteria localized in a strain of the marine ciliate Euplotes raikovi, isolated from the coast of Adriatic Sea. Phylogenetic analysis placed these endosymbionts within the genus Francisella, in close but distinct association with F. noatunensis. We suggest the establishment of a novel subspecies within F. noatunensis and propose the cytoplasmatic endosymbiont of E. raikovi as Candidatus F. noatunensis subsp. endociliophora subsp. nov.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available