English (United Kingdom)

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/featured_content/oa?rat=en

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/highlighted_journal/

Global: Zendy Plus annual

Presents the access of premium content as premium feature

Premium Content

Presents the keyphrase highlighting as premium feature

Keyphrase Highlighting

Presents the summarisation as premium feature

Summarisation

Insights

Presents the pdf analysis as premium feature

PDF Analysis

Presents the zaia usage as premium feature

ZAIA

Global: Zendy Plus monthly

Global: Zendy Tools annual

Global: Zendy Tools monthly

Global: Zendy Free Plan

Background   Epulopiscium  sp. type B, a large intestinal bacterial symbiont of the surgeonfish  Naso tonganus , does not reproduce by binary fission. Instead, it forms multiple intracellular offspring using a process with morphological features similar to the survival strategy of endospore formation in other Firmicutes. We hypothesize that intracellular offspring formation in  Epulopiscium  evolved from endospore formation and these two developmental programs share molecular mechanisms that are responsible for the observed morphological similarities.    Results  To test this, we sequenced the genome of  Epulopiscium  sp. type B to draft quality. Comparative analysis with the complete genome of its close, endospore-forming relative,  Cellulosilyticum lentocellum , identified homologs of well-known sporulation genes characterized in  Bacillus subtilis . Of the 147 highly conserved  B. subtilis  sporulation genes used in this analysis, we found 57 homologs in the  Epulopiscium  genome and 87 homologs in the  C. lentocellum  genome.    Conclusions  Genes coding for components of the central regulatory network which govern the expression of forespore and mother-cell-specific sporulation genes and the machinery used for engulfment appear best conserved. Low conservation of genes expressed late in endospore formation, particularly those that confer resistance properties and encode germinant receptors, suggest that  Epulopiscium  has lost the ability to form a mature spore. Our findings provide a framework for understanding the evolution of a novel form of cellular reproduction.

The genomic basis for the evolution of a novel form of cellular reproduction in the bacterium Epulopiscium