Hundreds of flagellar basal bodies cover the cell surface of the endosymbiotic bacterium Buchnera aphidicola sp. strain APS.

Buchnera aphidicola is the endosymbiotic bacterium of the pea aphid. Due to its small genome size, Buchnera lacks many essential genes for autogenous life but obtains nutrients from the host. Although the Buchnera cell is nonmotile, it retains clusters of flagellar genes that lack the late genes necessary for motility, including the flagellin gene. In this study, we show that the flagellar genes are actually transcribed and translated and that the Buchnera cell surface is covered with hundreds of hook-basal-body (HBB) complexes. The abundance of HBB complexes suggests a role other than motility. We discuss the possibility that the HBB complex may serve as a protein transporter not only for the flagellar proteins but also for other proteins to maintain the symbiotic system.