The intracellular symbiosis in aphids as a model system for analysis of metabolic regulation in a complex system
Almost all aphid species bear intracellular symbiotic bacteria known as Buchnera in the cytoplasm of bacteriocytes, specialized cells for harbouring the bacteria. The host and the symbiont have established a tight symbiotic relationship and the mutualism is so obligate that neither can reproduce independently. Such a high integration gives us an impression that the bacteria is like an organelle of the host cell. For example, even genes for biosynthesis of cellular membrane are missing from the Buchnera genome. The goal of this project is to understand how the metabolism is organized in the integrated complex system.