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Metabolic Control Between the Symbiotic Chlorella and the Host Paramecium

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Endosymbionts in Paramecium

Part of the book series: Microbiology Monographs ((MICROMONO,volume 12))

Abstract

Metabolic control, including the transfer of materials between a host and a symbiont, is important for understanding symbiotic relationships. However, sugars, mainly maltose, are the only confirmed class of material transferred from symbionts to Paramecium bursaria. An axenic Japanese Chlorella symbiont, which had been thought hard to isolate and maintain, was found to irreversibly adapt to its symbiotic milieu. Analysis of its features, such as the unique availability of nitrogenous compounds (e.g., amino acids) and its uncommon stimulation of carbon fixation by the host extract, revealed that three constitutional amino acid transport systems that can be controlled by Ca2+ and sugar are present, and that the carbon fixation ability of the symbiont depends on the extracellular cation concentration. These novel features of the Japanese symbiont imply metabolic control between the host and the symbiont.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the editor, M. Fujishima, and the series editor, A. Steinbüchel, for providing us with an opportunity to write on this theme. Grateful acknowledgement is made to the following sources for permission to reproduce material in this chapter: Kamako and Imamura 2006; Kato et al. 2006; Kato and Imamura 2008b.

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  1. Research Organization of Science and Engineering, Ritsumeikan University, Noji-Higashi 1-1-1, Kusatsu Shiga, , 525-8577, Japan

    Yutaka Kato

  2. Department of Pharmacy, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ritsumeikan University, Noji-Higashi 1-1-1, Kusatsu Shiga, 525-8577, Japan

    Nobutaka Imamura

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  1. Yutaka Kato
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Correspondence to Nobutaka Imamura .

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  1. Graduate School of Science and Eng., Dept. of Environmental Sci. and Eng., Yamaguchi University, Yoshida 1677-1, Yamaguchi, 753-8512, Japan

    Masahiro Fujishima

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Kato, Y., Imamura, N. (2009). Metabolic Control Between the Symbiotic Chlorella and the Host Paramecium . In: Fujishima, M. (eds) Endosymbionts in Paramecium. Microbiology Monographs, vol 12. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-92677-1_3

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