Symbiopectobacterium

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]

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]

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]