Sodalis praecaptivussubsp.spalangiaesubsp. nov., a nascent bacterial endosymbiont isolated from the parasitoid wasp,Spalangia cameroni

Abstract

AbstractAn endosymbiotic bacterium of the genusSodalis,designated as strain HZT, was cultured from the parasitoid waspSpalangia cameroni, that develops on pupae of various host flies. The bacterium was detected inS. cameronithat developed on house flies,Musca domestica, in a poultry facility in Hazon, northern Israel. Following culture, this bacterium displayed no surface motility on LB agar, is rod-shaped and irregular in size, approximating 10-30 nm in diameter and 5-20 μm in length. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that strain HZTis closely related toSodalis praecaptivusstrain HST, a free-living species of the genusSodalisthat includes many insect endosymbionts. Although these bacteria maintain >98% sequence identity in shared genes, genomic characterization revealed that strain HZThas undergone substantial reductive evolution, such that it lacks many gene functions that are maintained inS. praecaptivusstrain HST. Based on the results of phylogenetic, genomic and chemotaxonomic analyses, we propose that this endosymbiont should be classified in a new subspecies asSodalis praecaptivussubsp. spalangiaesubsp. nov. The type strain for this new subspecies is HZT(=ATCC TSD-398T=NCIMB 15482T). The subspeciesSodalis praecaptivussubsp.praecaptivusstrain HSTis created automatically with the type strain ATCC BAA-2554T(=DSMZ 27494T).