| Symbiopectobacterium | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Bacteria |
| Kingdom: | Pseudomonadati |
| Phylum: | Pseudomonadota |
| Class: | Gammaproteobacteria |
| Order: | Enterobacterales |
| Family: | Enterobacteriaceae |
| Genus: | Symbiopectobacterium Nadal et al. 2022 |
| Type species | |
| Symbiopectobacterium purcellii. [1] | |
Symbiopectobacterium is a genus of bacteria which are all symbionts of arthropods, particularly hemipteran insects, as well as being described from nematode worms. The first record of a member of this genus was the BEV strain (bacterium of Euscelidius variegatus) isolated by Alexander Purcell from leafhoppers. [2] The microbe showed both horizontal transmission between through plant surfaces and vertical transmission through eggs; [3] infection of the leafhopper was thought to potentiate phytoplasm transmission from insect to plant. [4]
Strains allied to this genus (as based on 16S rRNA gene sequence and other markers) have also been retrieved from bedbugs [5] and a range of other hemipteran insects. The bulrush bug Chilacis carries a related vertically transmitted symbiont housed in a gut mycetome, in what appears to be an obligate association. [6] Latterly, the symbiont was described as an obligate symbiont of Howardula nematodes, where the name Ca. Symbiopectobacterium was first used. [7] The recovery of Symbiopectobacterium into pure culture from the insect Empoasca decipiens led to its formal description as a bacterial genus. [8]