Xenorhabdus

Xenorhabdus
Scientific classification
Domain:	Bacteria
Phylum:	Pseudomonadota
Class:	Gammaproteobacteria
Order:	Enterobacterales
Family:	Morganellaceae
Genus:	Xenorhabdus Thomas & Poinar, 1979
Species
Xenorhabdus beddingii Xenorhabdus bovienii Xenorhabdus budapestensis Xenorhabdus cabanillasii Xenorhabdus doucetiae Xenorhabdus eapokensis[1] Xenorhabdus ehlersii Xenorhabdus griffiniae Xenorhabdus hominickii Xenorhabdus indica Xenorhabdus innexi Xenorhabdus ishibashii Xenorhabdus japonica Xenorhabdus khoisanae Xenorhabdus koppenhoeferi Xenorhabdus kozodoii Xenorhabdus magdalenensis Xenorhabdus mauleonii Xenorhabdus miraniensis Xenorhabdus nematophila Xenorhabdus poinarii Xenorhabdus romanii Xenorhabdus stockiae Xenorhabdus szentirmaii Xenorhabdus thuongxuanensis[1] Xenorhabdus vietnamensis

Xenorhabdus is a genus of motile, gram-negative bacteria from the family of the Morganellaceae. All the species of the genus are only known to live in symbiosis with soil entomopathogenic nematodes from the genus Steinernema.^[2]

Although no free-living forms of Xenorhabdus have ever been isolated outside of the nematode host, the benefits for the bacteria are still unknown. However, it has been demonstrated that the nematode can't establish within its insect host without the bacteria.^[3]

The tripartite Xenorhabdus-nematode-insect interaction represents a model system in which both mutualistic and pathogenic processes can be studied in a single bacterial species. In the laboratory, some species are virulent even when artificially injected into the insect host, whereas others species need the nematode to affect the insect.^[3]