The diversity, ecological success, and cellular complexity of eukaryotes would not be possible without symbiotic associations with prokaryotes. At early stages of eukaryotic evolution, bacteria became an integral part of eukaryotic cells by transforming into the energy-generating ubiquitous mitochondrion and the photosynthetic plastid. Moreover, multiple other phylogenetically and functionally diverse prokaryotes established symbiotic relationships with various eukaryotes. While present in multicellular hosts, prokaryotic symbioses are especially common among protists, which account for most of the eukaryotic diversity.
Protists engage in symbiotic associations with a wide range of prokaryotes, including Proteobacteria, Cyanobacteria, Archaea, Chlamydiae and Bacteroidetes, as well as novel bacterial lineages belonging to so-called ‘microbial dark matter’, which refers to uncultured organisms known only by DNA signatures. Protists sequester prokaryotes inside their cells, providing a safe and regulated environment. In turn, prokaryotic intracellular residents expand the metabolic potential of their hosts, diversify their ecological niches, eliminate competitors and defend against infections as well as predation.
Investigation of protist symbioses has led to the discovery of intriguing new types of relationships in recent years. Among them are the primary plastids of independent origin from in Paulinella, a ciliate-inhabiting symbiont that enables anaerobic respiration, and non-photosynthetic cyanobacterial symbionts responsible for supplying products of N2 fixation. Despite this, the knowledge on the endosymbiont prevalence among protists, their role and the mechanisms of their interactions with their protist hosts is still quite limited. The scope of this article collection is to expand our knowledge of bacterial and archaeal symbionts of protists.
We welcome research papers, mini-reviews, short communications and other article types on this topic, including:
• new examples of symbiotic associations with various protist lineages
• occurrence of protist-associated prokaryotes (including studies of protist microbiome) in diverse environments
• analysis of genome composition and evolution of protist-associated symbionts
• insights into the roles of protist symbionts and microbiome and molecular mechanisms of interaction with the hosts
The article types accepted in this Research Topic are Brief Research Report, Methods, Mini Review, Opinion, Original Research, Review.
Keywords:
endosymbiont, intracellular bacteria, intracellular archaea, microbiome, microeukaryote, symbiosis
Important Note:
All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
The diversity, ecological success, and cellular complexity of eukaryotes would not be possible without symbiotic associations with prokaryotes. At early stages of eukaryotic evolution, bacteria became an integral part of eukaryotic cells by transforming into the energy-generating ubiquitous mitochondrion and the photosynthetic plastid. Moreover, multiple other phylogenetically and functionally diverse prokaryotes established symbiotic relationships with various eukaryotes. While present in multicellular hosts, prokaryotic symbioses are especially common among protists, which account for most of the eukaryotic diversity.
Protists engage in symbiotic associations with a wide range of prokaryotes, including Proteobacteria, Cyanobacteria, Archaea, Chlamydiae and Bacteroidetes, as well as novel bacterial lineages belonging to so-called ‘microbial dark matter’, which refers to uncultured organisms known only by DNA signatures. Protists sequester prokaryotes inside their cells, providing a safe and regulated environment. In turn, prokaryotic intracellular residents expand the metabolic potential of their hosts, diversify their ecological niches, eliminate competitors and defend against infections as well as predation.
Investigation of protist symbioses has led to the discovery of intriguing new types of relationships in recent years. Among them are the primary plastids of independent origin from in Paulinella, a ciliate-inhabiting symbiont that enables anaerobic respiration, and non-photosynthetic cyanobacterial symbionts responsible for supplying products of N2 fixation. Despite this, the knowledge on the endosymbiont prevalence among protists, their role and the mechanisms of their interactions with their protist hosts is still quite limited. The scope of this article collection is to expand our knowledge of bacterial and archaeal symbionts of protists.
We welcome research papers, mini-reviews, short communications and other article types on this topic, including:
• new examples of symbiotic associations with various protist lineages
• occurrence of protist-associated prokaryotes (including studies of protist microbiome) in diverse environments
• analysis of genome composition and evolution of protist-associated symbionts
• insights into the roles of protist symbionts and microbiome and molecular mechanisms of interaction with the hosts
The article types accepted in this Research Topic are Brief Research Report, Methods, Mini Review, Opinion, Original Research, Review.
Keywords:
endosymbiont, intracellular bacteria, intracellular archaea, microbiome, microeukaryote, symbiosis
Important Note:
All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.