title: Novel role for Aeromonas jandaei as a digestive tract symbiont of the North American medicinal leech.
abstract: The gut bacteria of the North American medicinal leech, Macrobdella decora, were characterized. Biochemical tests and DNA sequences indicated that Aeromonas jandaei is the dominant culturable symbiont in leeches from a broad geographic area. In this work we identified a new habitat for A. jandaei, and here we suggest that there is unexpected specificity between leeches and Aeromonas species.
authors.affiliation: Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024, USA. siddall@amnh.org
authors.forename: Mark E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Siddall
authors.forename: Paul L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Worthen
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Joerg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Graf
mesh_terms: D000333:Aeromonas / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D000818:Animals; D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000382:microbiology*; D007865:Leeches / Q000382:microbiology*; D009656:North America; D010641:Phenotype; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013559:Symbiosis