• Symbiotic bacteria live inside specialised organs called bacteriomes within insects. • This image shows a cross-section of the planthopperCallodictya krueperi, with fluorescent probes labelling three microbes:Vidania(red),Sodalis(yellow) andSulcia(green)Courtesy Anna Michalik et al Symbiotic bacteria live inside specialised organs called bacteriomes within insects. • This image shows a cross-section of the planthopperCallodictya krueperi, with fluorescent probes labelling three microbes:Vidania(red),Sodalis(yellow) andSulcia(green) Courtesy Anna Michalik et al Symbioticbacterialiving inside insect cells have the smallest genomes known for any organism. • The findings furthermuddy the distinction between cellular organelleslike mitochondria and the most barebones microbes in nature. • “Exactly where this highly integrated symbiont ends and an organelle starts, I think it’s very difficult to say,” saysPiotr Łukasikat Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland. • “This is a very blurred boundary.” Read moreA whole new world of tiny beings challenges fundamental ideas of life Read more A whole new world of tiny beings challenges fundamental ideas of life Planthoppers are insects that subsist entirely on plant sap, and supplement their nutrition thanks to an ancient relationship with symbiotic bacteria.
Article Summaries:
- Researchers have identified symbiotic bacteria inside planthopper insects that possess the smallest genomes known for any organism, measuring less than 181,000 base pairs and in some cases just 50,000 base pairs-fewer than 60 protein‑coding genes. The study, which sequenced bacteria from 149 insects across 19 families, revealed that these microbes, named Vidania and Sulcia, have been evolving with their hosts for about 263 million years. Their extreme genome reduction blurs the line between cellular organelles such as mitochondria and free‑living microbes, raising questions about the definition of life and the evolution of symbiosis.
Sources: