Query: NC_011958:1031592 Rhodobacter sphaeroides KD131 chromosome 2, complete genome Lineage: Rhodobacter sphaeroides; Rhodobacter; Rhodobacteraceae; Rhodobacterales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria General Information: Bacteria belonging to the Rhodobacter group are metabolically versatile as they are able to grow using photosynthesis, chemosynthesis, and usually can grow under both anaerobic and aerobic conditions. The most extensively studied bacteria with regards to its photosynthetic capabilities which includes the structure, function and regulation of its photosynthetic membranes, its mechanisms of CO2 and nitrogen fixation, cytochrome diversity and its electron transport systems. It can grow aerobically and anaerobically in the light and anaerobically in the dark. It produces an intracytoplasmic membrane system consisting of membrane invaginations where the light harvesting complexes (LH1 and LH2) and the reaction center are synthesized. Furthermore, it has the ability to detoxify metal oxides and oxyanions and hence has a role in bioremediation.
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General Information: This strain is found in the cedar aphid, Cinara cedri. Aphid endosymbiont. Almost all aphids contain maternally transmitted bacteriocyte cells, which themselves contain bacteria called Buchnera. The aphids live on a restricted diet (plant sap), rich in carbohydrates, but poor in nitrogenous or other essential compounds. It is believed that the Buchnera provide the essential nutrients the host lacks. Besides a nutritional co-dependence, due to a co-existence of millions of years, Buchnera have lost the ability to produce cell surface components such as lipopolysaccharides. This makes for an obligate endosymbiont relationship between host and Buchnera. Buchnera are prokaryotic cells which belong to the gamma-Proteobacteria, closely related to the Enterobacteriaceae family. Phylogenetic studies using 16S rRNA indicate that the symbiotic relationship was established around 200-250 million years ago. Since Buchnera are closely related to Escherichia coli and Haemophilus influenzae, comparative genomic studies can shed light on the evolutionary mechanisms of intracellular endosymbiosis as well as the different underlying molecular basis between organisms with parasitic behavior and symbionts.