Rediscovering the genus Lyticum, multiflagellated symbionts of the order Rickettsiales

Among the bacterial symbionts harbored by the model organism Paramecium, many still lack a recent investigation that includes a molecular characterization. The genus Lyticum consists of two species of large-sized bacteria displaying numerous flagella, despite their inability to move inside their hosts’ cytoplasm. We present a multidisciplinary redescription of both species, using the deposited type strains as well as newly collected material. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequences, we assigned Lyticum to the order Rickettsiales, that is intensely studied because of its pathogenic representatives and its position as the extant group most closely related to the mitochondrial ancestor. We provide conclusive proofs that at least some Rickettsiales possess actual flagella, a feature that has been recently predicted from genomic data but never confirmed. We give support to the hypothesis that the mitochondrial ancestor could have been flagellated, and provide the basis for further studies on these ciliate endosymbionts.