Intracellular Bacterial Symbionts of Aphids Possess Many Genomic Copies per Bacterium (original) (raw)

Abstract.

Although Buchnera, the endosymbiotic bacteria of aphids, are close relatives of Escherichia coli, their genome size is only a seventh that of E. coli. In this study, we estimated the genomic copy number of Buchnera by dot-blot hybridization and fluorimetry using a video-intensified microscope photon-counting system and obtained convincing evidence that each cell of these bacteria contains an average of 120 genomic copies. Thus, the Buchnera symbiont, with many copies of a small-sized genome, is reminiscent of cell organelles such as mitochondria and chloroplasts.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, University of Tokyo, Hongo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan, , , , , , JP
    Kanako Komaki & Hajime Ishikawa

Authors

  1. Kanako Komaki
  2. Hajime Ishikawa

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Received: 25 November 1998 / Accepted: 25 December 1998

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Komaki, K., Ishikawa, H. Intracellular Bacterial Symbionts of Aphids Possess Many Genomic Copies per Bacterium.J Mol Evol 48, 717–722 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/PL00006516

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