@article{3600,
  keywords = {Animals, Biological Evolution, Glycosides, Symbiosis, Chlorophyta, Flavobacteriaceae, Gastropoda, Predatory Behavior, Triterpenes},
  author = {Jindong Zan and Zhiyuan Li and Ma Tianero and Jeanette Davis and Russell Hill and Mohamed Donia},
  title = {A microbial factory for defensive kahalalides in a tripartite marine symbiosis.},
  abstract = { <p>Chemical defense against predators is widespread in natural ecosystems. Occasionally, taxonomically distant organisms share the same defense chemical. Here, we describe an unusual tripartite marine symbiosis, in which an intracellular bacterial symbiont (" Endobryopsis kahalalidefaciens") uses a diverse array of biosynthetic enzymes to convert simple substrates into a library of complex molecules (the kahalalides) for chemical defense of the host, the alga  sp., against predation. The kahalalides are subsequently hijacked by a third partner, the herbivorous mollusk , and employed similarly for defense. " E. kahalalidefaciens" has lost many essential traits for free living and acts as a factory for kahalalide production. This interaction between a bacterium, an alga, and an animal highlights the importance of chemical defense in the evolution of complex symbioses.</p> },
  year = {2019},
  journal = {Science},
  volume = {364},
  month = {2019 Jun 14},
  issn = {1095-9203},
  doi = {10.1126/science.aaw6732},
  language = {eng},
}