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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, September 2002, p. 4637-4641, Vol. 68, No. 9
0099-2240/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.68.9.4637-4641.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Endosymbiotic Bacteria in the Esophageal Organ of Glossiphoniid Leeches

Yoshitomo Kikuchi1,2 and Takema Fukatsu2*

Natural History Laboratory, Faculty of Science, Ibaraki University, Mito 310-8512,1 Research Institute of Biological Resources, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba 305-8566, Japan2

Received 5 April 2002/ Accepted 17 June 2002

We characterized the intracellular symbiotic bacteria of the hematophagous glossiphoniid leeches Placobdelloides siamensis and a Parabdella sp. These leeches have a specialized structure called an "esophageal organ," the cells of which harbor bacterial symbionts. From the esophageal organ of each species, a 1.5-kb eubacterial 16S rRNA gene segment was amplified by PCR, cloned, and sequenced. Diagnostic PCR detected the symbiont in the esophageal organ and intestine. Phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene(s) demonstrated that the symbionts from the leeches formed a monophyletic group in a well-defined clade containing endosymbiotic bacteria of plant sap-feeding insects in the {gamma}-subdivision of the Proteobacteria. The nucleotide compositions of the 16S rRNA gene from the leech symbionts were highly AT biased (53.7%).

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, AIST Tsukuba Central 6, 1-1-1 Higashi, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8566, Japan. Phone: 81-298-61-6087. Fax: 81-298-61-6080. E-mail: t-fukatsu{at}aist.go.jp.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, September 2002, p. 4637-4641, Vol. 68, No. 9
0099-2240/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.68.9.4637-4641.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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Copyright © 2002 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.