BioModels MODEL1806250005 Cicada Sulcia-Hodgkinia Symbiosis

BioModels record MODEL1806250005 is a multi-compartment metabolic model of the cicada Neotibicen canicularis and its bacterial endosymbionts Sulcia and Hodgkinia.

Taxonomy

Taxon Ontology ID Functional Roles Abundance
Neotibicen canicularis NCBITaxon:1699721 · TaxonMech · TraitMech
CROSS_FEEDER
N/A
Sulcia — ontology label: Candidatus Karelsulcia NCBITaxon:336809 · TaxonMech · TraitMech
SYNTROPHIC_PARTNER
N/A
Hodgkinia — ontology label: Candidatus Hodgkinia NCBITaxon:573657 · TaxonMech · TraitMech
SYNTROPHIC_PARTNER
N/A

Ecological Interactions

The graph shows only explicitly linked interaction participants. Community members without an asserted participant link are omitted; membership alone does not imply an interaction.

Ecological interaction network for BioModels MODEL1806250005 Cicada Sulcia-Hodgkinia Symbiosis Bipartite graph where circles represent taxa and non-circular symbols represent interactions, with distinct shapes and colours for mutualism.
Taxon
Mutualism

Sulcia Essential Amino Acid Provisioning

MUTUALISM

COMPUTATIONAL - the cicada model predicts Sulcia export of 8 essential amino acids and reciprocal host nutrient supply. Across the three modeled insects, Sulcia EAA output accounts for 66-80% of host-derived nitrogen input. This is nitrogen-weighted transport-flux accounting, not an elemental-nitrogen concentration or a host-specific measured percentage. MUTUALISM denotes modeled reciprocal nutrition, not experimentally traced transfer.

Source Taxon: Sulcia

Target Taxon: Neotibicen canicularis

Metabolites: L-leucine (CHEBI:15603 · MediaIngredientMech · CMMMech), L-isoleucine (CHEBI:17191 · MediaIngredientMech · CMMMech)

Evidence

  • PMID:30254121 - SUPPORT (COMPUTATIONAL)
    "Sulcia and Hodgkinia with genomes of ≤0.3 Mb are calculated to recycle ∼30 to 80% of host-derived nitrogen to essential amino acids returned to the host"
  • PMID:30254121 - SUPPORT (COMPUTATIONAL)
    "Our simulations reveal extensive bidirectional flux of multiple metabolites between each symbiont and the host"
  • PMID:30254121 - SUPPORT (COMPUTATIONAL)
    "For Sulcia, EAA output was equivalent to 66 to 80% of host-derived N"

Hodgkinia Metabolic Complementarity

MUTUALISM

COMPUTATIONAL - Hodgkinia exports histidine and methionine, complementing the eight Sulcia-derived essential amino acids. Its predicted EAA return corresponds to 30% of host-derived nitrogen input, not the entire pooled abstract range. The model predicts reciprocal host support and no exclusively exchanged symbiont metabolites. Near metabolic segregation is not a universal absence of exchange; direct host regulatory control remains a PARTIAL interpretation.

Source Taxon: Hodgkinia

Target Taxon: Neotibicen canicularis

Evidence

  • PMID:30254121 - SUPPORT (COMPUTATIONAL)
    "Sulcia and Hodgkinia with genomes of ≤0.3 Mb are calculated to recycle ∼30 to 80% of host-derived nitrogen to essential amino acids returned to the host"
  • PMID:30254121 - PARTIAL (COMPUTATIONAL)
    "near-complete metabolic segregation (i.e., near absence of metabolic cross-feeding) between the two symbionts, a likely mode of host control over symbiont metabolism"
  • PMID:30254121 - SUPPORT (COMPUTATIONAL)
    "30% for Hodgkinia"

Host-Mediated Complementary Endosymbiont Metabolism

MUTUALISM

COMPUTATIONAL - Sulcia and Hodgkinia provide complementary nutrition to the cicada host while receiving host metabolites. The model contains no exclusively exchanged symbiont metabolites. PARTIAL - this organization motivates host-control hypotheses but does not demonstrate regulatory mediation or complete exclusion of bacterial cross-feeding. The partner nodes are components of this summary, not independently demonstrated upstream causal events.

Biological Processes:

Evidence

  • PMID:30254121 - SUPPORT (COMPUTATIONAL)
    "Our simulations reveal extensive bidirectional flux of multiple metabolites between each symbiont and the host"
  • PMID:30254121 - PARTIAL (COMPUTATIONAL)
    "near-complete metabolic segregation (i.e., near absence of metabolic cross-feeding) between the two symbionts, a likely mode of host control over symbiont metabolism"

Associated Datasets

Dataset Type Repository Accession
BioModels model file
Multi-compartment SBML model for cicada symbiosis.
OTHER OTHER Neotibicen_iNA533.xml
Primary publication
Study on the cost of metabolic interactions in insect-bacterial symbioses.
OTHER OTHER PMID:30254121

Knowledge gaps & discussions (1)

KNOWLEDGE_GAP OPEN Do measured partner fluxes and host regulatory perturbations confirm the modeled nutritional organization?

Models assume equal symbiont biomass, amino-acid-free external medium and no energetic transport costs. The maintenance-cost analysis disables bacterial biomass production while retaining nutrient reactions; it is not in-vivo symbiont removal. Full main text/Table 1/captions read, but figure images, supplemental tables and model files were not inspected or rerun. No new metabolite-specific nodes or arrows are added.

Attaches to: ecological_interactions#Sulcia Essential Amino Acid Provisioning, ecological_interactions#Hodgkinia Metabolic Complementarity, ecological_interactions#Host-Mediated Complementary Endosymbiont Metabolism

External Resources

Name Repository Resource ID
BioModels entry
Cicada symbiosis metabolic model.
BIOMODELS MODEL1806250005
  • PMID:30254121 - SUPPORT (COMPUTATIONAL)
    "The Cost of Metabolic Interactions in Symbioses between Insects and Bacteria with Reduced Genomes."

Cross-Mech Suite Links

Explore related entities across the CultureBotAI X-Mech knowledge bases: