Symbiotic innovation in the oxymonad Streblomastix strix

The Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology
Brian S Leander, Patrick J Keeling

Abstract

Streblomastix strix is an enigmatic oxymonad found exclusively in the hindgut of the damp-wood termite Zootermopsis. Streblomastix has a number of unusual morphological characters and forms a complex but poorly understood symbiosis with epibiotic bacteria. Here we described the ultrastructure of S. strix, with emphasis on the axial cytoskeleton and cell-cell associations, in its normal state and when treated with antibiotics. In untreated cells, epibiotic bacteria were orderly arranged end-to-end on six or seven longitudinal vanes, giving S. strix a stellate appearance in transverse section. The epibiotic bacteria were unusually long bacilli of at least three different morphotypes. Bacteria adhered to the oxymonad host by distinct cell-cell junctions that protruded between the poles of adjacent epibiotic bacteria. Treating termites with the antibiotic carbenicillin led to the loss of most (but not all) of the bacteria and the transformation of S. strix from a long slender cell to a teardrop-shaped cell, where the axostyle was compacted and became bifurcated near the posterior end.

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Citations

Oct 15, 2013·Microscopy and Microanalysis : the Official Journal of Microscopy Society of America, Microbeam Analysis Society, Microscopical Society of Canada·Kevin J CarpenterPatrick J Keeling
Apr 28, 2006·BMC Evolutionary Biology·Claudio H Slamovits, Patrick J Keeling
Sep 4, 2007·European Journal of Protistology·Renate Radek, Gülcan Nitsch
Aug 3, 2007·The Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology·Kevin J Carpenter, Patrick J Keeling
Jan 24, 2008·Environmental Microbiology·Audrey P de KoningPatrick J Keeling
Mar 6, 2008·The Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology·Brian S Leander
May 29, 2013·The Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology·Vera Tai, Patrick J Keeling
Jul 15, 2006·Protist·Aaron A Heiss, Patrick J Keeling
Dec 3, 2014·Applied and Environmental Microbiology·Vera TaiPatrick J Keeling
May 1, 2019·Nature Microbiology·Caroline L MonteilChristopher T Lefevre
Sep 8, 2019·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Sebastian C TreitliVladimír Hampl
Jul 15, 2021·Current Biology : CB·Filip HusnikPatrick J Keeling

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
light microscopy

Software Mentioned

Adobe Photoshop
strix

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