A unique symbiosome in an anaerobic single-celled eukaryote

Jon Jerlström-Hultqvist (), Lucie Gallot-Lavallée, Dayana E. Salas-Leiva, Bruce A. Curtis, Kristína Záhonová, Ivan Čepička, Courtney W. Stairs, Shweta Pipaliya, Joel B. Dacks, John M. Archibald and Andrew J. Roger ()
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Jon Jerlström-Hultqvist: Uppsala Universitet
Lucie Gallot-Lavallée: Dalhousie University
Dayana E. Salas-Leiva: Dalhousie University
Bruce A. Curtis: Dalhousie University
Kristína Záhonová: University of Alberta
Ivan Čepička: Charles University
Courtney W. Stairs: Lund University
Shweta Pipaliya: University of Alberta
Joel B. Dacks: University of Alberta
John M. Archibald: Dalhousie University
Andrew J. Roger: Dalhousie University

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

Abstract: Abstract Symbiotic relationships between eukaryotes and prokaryotes played pivotal roles in the evolution of life and drove the emergence of specialized symbiotic structures in animals, plants and fungi. The host-evolved symbiotic structures of microbial eukaryotes – the vast majority of such hosts in nature – remain largely unstudied. Here we describe highly structured symbiosomes within three free-living anaerobic protists (Anaeramoeba spp.). We dissect this symbiosis using complete genome sequencing and transcriptomics of host and symbiont cells coupled with fluorescence in situ hybridization, and 3D reconstruction using focused-ion-beam scanning electron microscopy. The emergence of the symbiosome is underpinned by expansion of gene families encoding regulators of membrane trafficking and phagosomal maturation and extensive bacteria-to-eukaryote lateral transfer. The symbionts reside deep within a symbiosomal membrane network that enables metabolic syntrophy by precisely positioning sulfate-reducing bacteria alongside host hydrogenosomes. Importantly, the symbionts maintain connections to the Anaeramoeba plasma membrane, blurring traditional boundaries between ecto- and endosymbiosis.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-54102-7

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