Host-Derived Lipids Sustain Membrane Biogenesis in an Obligate Endosymbiont

Host lipid metabolism sustains membrane biogenesis in the obligate endosymbiont Buchnera aphidicola, with every detected phospholipid class present in aphid tissues.

• Why it matters: Genome-reduced symbionts often lack canonical phospholipid genes, leaving unclear how they maintain membranes inside host cells.
• What they did: Using integrated untargeted lipidomics and transcriptomics in pea aphid bacteriocytes, plus functional assays, the study tested host lipid precursor and sterol contributions to Buchnera aphidicola abundance and morphology.
• The result: Although Buchnera aphidicola lacks nearly all canonical phospholipid biosynthesis genes, purified symbionts contained PC, PS, PE, PG, and CL, and RNA interference of host lipid precursor genes reduced Buchnera aphidicola abundance and disrupted morphology.

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