Metabolic effectors secreted by bacterial pathogens: essential facilitators of plastid endosymbiosis?
Under the endosymbiont hypothesis, over a billion years ago a heterotrophic eukaryote entered into a symbiotic relationship with a cyanobacterium (the cyanobiont). This partnership culminated in the plastid that has spread to forms as diverse as plants and diatoms. However, why primary plastid acquisition has not been repeated multiple times remains unclear. Here, we report a possible answer to this question by showing that primary plastid endosymbiosis was likely to have been primed by the secretion in the host cytosol of effector proteins from intracellular Chlamydiales pathogens. We provide evidence suggesting that the cyanobiont might have rescued its afflicted host by feeding photosynthetic carbon into a chlamydia-controlled assimilation pathway.
Unité de Glycobiologie Structurale et Fonctionelle, Unité Mixte de Recherche 8576, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique-Université des Sciences et Technologies de Lille, Cité Scientifique, 59655 Villeneuve d'Ascq Cedex, France. steven.ball@univ-lille1.fr.
Steven G
SG
Ball
Agathe
A
Subtil
Debashish
D
Bhattacharya
Ahmed
A
Moustafa
Andreas P M
AP
Weber
Lena
L
Gehre
Christophe
C
Colleoni
Maria-Cecilia
MC
Arias
Ugo
U
Cenci
David
D
Dauvillée
D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D005075:Biological Evolution; D002244:Carbon / Q000378:metabolism; D002695:Chlamydiales / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D019295:Computational Biology; D000458:Cyanobacteria / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D018745:Genome, Plant / Q000235:genetics; D006003:Glycogen / Q000378:metabolism; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D007517:Isoamylase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D010788:Photosynthesis; D010802:Phylogeny; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D010944:Plants / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology*; D018087:Plastids / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D013559:Symbiosis
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D010940:Plant Proteins; D002244:Carbon; D006003:Glycogen; D007517:Isoamylase