Genetic potential for aerobic respiration and denitrification in globally distributed respiratory endosymbionts

Daan R. Speth (), Linus M. Zeller, Jon S. Graf, Will A. Overholt, Kirsten Küsel and Jana Milucka ()
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Daan R. Speth: Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology
Linus M. Zeller: Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology
Jon S. Graf: Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology
Will A. Overholt: Friedrich Schiller University
Kirsten Küsel: Friedrich Schiller University
Jana Milucka: Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology

Nature Communications, 2024, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Abstract The endosymbiont Candidatus Azoamicus ciliaticola was proposed to generate ATP for its eukaryotic host, an anaerobic ciliate of the Plagiopylea class, fulfilling a function analogous to mitochondria in other eukaryotic cells. The discovery of this respiratory endosymbiosis has major implications for both evolutionary history and ecology of microbial eukaryotes. However, with only a single species described, knowledge of its environmental distribution and diversity is limited. Here we report four complete, circular metagenome assembled genomes (cMAGs) representing respiratory endosymbionts inhabiting groundwater in California, Ohio, and Germany. These cMAGs form two lineages comprising a monophyletic clade within the uncharacterized gammaproteobacterial order UBA6186, enabling evolutionary analysis of their key protein complexes. Strikingly, all four cMAGs encode a cytochrome cbb3 oxidase, which indicates that these endosymbionts have the capacity for aerobic respiration. Accordingly, we detect these respiratory endosymbionts in diverse habitats worldwide, thus further expanding the ecological scope of this respiratory symbiosis.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-54047-x

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