Genomics of Ca. Riegeria santandreae - the chemosynthetic symbionts of the marine flatworm Paracatenula from the Bay of Sant´Andrea (Elba, Italy). Genomics of Ca. Riegeria santandreae

Paracatenula are marine catenulid flatworms occuring in shallow water sediments. Adult Paracatenula lack a mouth and a digestive system. Instead, a trophosome containing intracellular alphaproteobacterial symbionts, namely Ca. Riegeria fill most of the worm´s body. Genomic analyses were performed to investigate whether genes revealing the symbiont´s functions in the host´ nutrition can be detected.