Endosymbiotic adaptations in three new bacterial species associated with Dictyostelium discoideum: Burkholderia agricolaris sp. nov., Burkholderia hayleyella sp. nov., and Burkholderia bonniea sp. nov.

Here we name three species of Burkholderia that can defeat the mechanisms by which bacteria are normally excluded from the spores of a soil dwelling eukaryote Dictyostelium discoideum, which is predatory on bacteria. They are B. agricolaris sp. nov., B. hayleyella sp. nov., and B. bonniea sp. nov. These new species are widespread across the eastern USA and were isolated as internal symbionts of wild collected D. discoideum. Evidence that they are each a distinct new species comes from their phylogenetic position, carbon usage, reduced cell length, cooler optimal growth temperature, and ability to invade D. discoideum amoebae and remain there for generations.