B. cuenoti was traditionally considered the only species in the genus Blattabacterium,[6] which is in turn the only genus in the family Blattabacteriaceae.[7] However, three new species have been described hosted by different species of cockroaches in the genus Cryptocercus:
The ancient (~150 My) genus retains throughout a core set of metabolic genes.[8] According to the GTDB, the many strains of the genus have nevertheless diverged enough at the sequence level to define around 40 "species" out of B. cuenoti alone.[9]
In addition, newer genera have been found sufficiently closely related to the genus to warrant assignment to the same family by GTDB: Ca. "Karelsulcia", Ca. "Uzinura", Ca. "Walczuchella", all symbionts of insects.[9]
Blattabacterium lives inside the fat cells of the fat bodies (tissues in the abdominal cavity that store fat) of its insect hosts. It serves a vital role in nitrogen recycling, which is important in insects that mainly live on plant material such as wood, which are poor in nitrogen. In insects, uric acid is a waste product of protein metabolism. After breakdown of uric acid by the host (and its other microbial flora, such as gut bacteria and fungi) into urea and/or ammonia, Blattabacterium recycles nitrogen by converting these products into glutamate, and using other raw materials from the host, is able to synthesize all of the essential amino acids and several vitamins.[10][11] It appears to be transmitted to succeeding generations of the host by infection of the mother's eggs prior to their fertilization.[12] When Blattabacterium was depleted within the host's fat bodies, there was an accumulation of urate showing Blattabacterium may be playing a role in regulating purine metabolism.[13]
Generally, insect endosymbionts are transmitted vertically, where the mother will pass the endosymbiont to the offspring through the egg germ line.[14] Therefore understanding host reproductive behavior is critical to understand how Blattabacterium is transmitted.
Cockroaches are a hugely diverse order of insects called Blattodea, within this order cockroaches exhibit range of reproductive behavior. Most cockroaches are oviparous, meaning they lay their eggs within their environment. Some roaches are ovoviviparous, where developing eggs remain inside the mother until they hatch.[15] In rare cases cockroaches such as Diploptera punctata, have been observed as viviparous. Embryos develop in an egg sac within the mother and are supplied nutrients during development.[16]
^Kambhampati S (2010). "Family II. Blattabacteriaceae fam. nov.". In Krieg NR, Staley JT, Brown DR, Hedlund BP, Paster BJ, Ward NL, Ludwig W, Whitman WB (eds.). Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology. Vol. 4 (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Springer. p. 315.
^Hollande AC, Favre R (1931). "La structure cytologique de Blattabacterium cuenoti (Mercier) N.G., symbiote du tissu adipeux des Blattides". Comptes Rendus des Séances de la Société de Biologie (Paris). 107: 752–754.
^Lo N, Eggleton P (2011). "Termite Phylogenetics and Co-cladogenesis with Symbionts". In Bignell D, Roisin Y, Lo N (eds.). Biology of Termites: A Modern Synthesis. pp. 27–50. doi:10.1007/978-90-481-3977-4_2.
^Clark JW, Kambhampati S (January 2003). "Phylogenetic analysis of Blattabacterium, endosymbiotic bacteria from the wood roach, Cryptocercus (Blattodea: Cryptocercidae), including a description of three new species". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 26 (1): 82–88. doi:10.1016/S1055-7903(02)00330-5. PMID12470940.
^Carrasco P, Pérez-Cobas AE, van de Pol C, Baixeras J, Moya A, Latorre A (June 2014). "Succession of the gut microbiota in the cockroach Blattella germanica". International Microbiology. 17 (2): 99–109. doi:10.2436/20.1501.01.212. PMID26418854.
^Engelstädter J, Hurst GD (December 2009). "The Ecology and Evolution of Microbes that Manipulate Host Reproduction". Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics. 40 (1): 127–149. doi:10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.110308.120206. ISSN1543-592X.
^Hintze-Podufal C, Vetter R (1996-01-01). "Hormonal Control of Courtship Behavior and Reproductive Cycle in the Cockroach Species Blaptica dubia (Blattoidea: Blaberoidea: Blaberidae)". Entomologia Generalis. 20 (3): 169–175. doi:10.1127/entom.gen/20/1996/169. ISSN0171-8177.