Choi, J., Palanichamy, P., Tanaka, H., Kondo, T., Gruwell, M.E., & Husnik, F. 2025 Accelerated pseudogenization in the ancient endosymbionts of giant scale insects. Molecular Biology and Evolution 0: 1-25
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Notes: This study generated six complete genomes of Walczuchella from three genera of giant scales, each with distinct co-symbiotic partners. They show that all the genomes are highly degraded, and particularly genes related to the cellular envelope and energy metabolism seem to be undergoing pseudogenization. The results highlight that even ancient symbionts with small genomes can experience significant bursts of gene loss when stochastic processes erase a gene that accelerates gene loss or when the selection pressure changes such as after co-symbiont acquisition. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf125
