Publications by authors named "Malin Tietjen"
Article Synopsis
- A specific type of bacteria, 'Candidatus Endonucleobacter', infects the nuclei of deep-sea mussels, multiplying to over 80,000 bacteria per nucleus and causing significant swelling.
- The bacteria obtain nutrients not from the host's genetic material but by upregulating genes that help them import and digest sugars, lipids, and proteins from the mussels.
- To avoid triggering cell death (apoptosis) in the host, 'Candidatus Endonucleobacter' produces unique inhibitors of apoptosis that it acquired from the host through a rare process known as horizontal gene transfer.
Hosts of chemoautotrophic bacteria typically have much higher biomass than their symbionts and consume symbiont cells for nutrition. In contrast to this, chemoautotrophic Riegeria symbionts in mouthless flatworms comprise up to half of the biomass of the consortium. Each species of harbors a specific Riegeria, and the endosymbionts have been vertically transmitted for at least 500 million years.
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