Although it is common knowledge that brucellae parasitize tissue cells of man and animals in natural and experimental infection, little is known concerning conditions that affect the parasitism. This laboratory has utilized monolayer tissue culture to study the multiplication of Brucella abortus in cells from various organs of the cow, natural host of B. abortus (Richardson, 1958). Holland and ...

Many insects defend themselves against predation by being distasteful or toxic. The chemicals involved may be sequestered from their diet synthesized de novo in the insects’ body tissues. Parasitoid wasps are a diverse group of that play critical role regulating host insect populations such as lepidopteran caterpillars. successful parasitization caterpillars parasitoid is contingent upon aptitu...

For successful parasitization, the female Campoletis sonorensis endoparasitic wasp injects a polydnavirus into its host, Heliothis virescens, during oviposition. Viral gene expression induces immunosuppression and alters development of the host. We report here that three abundantly expressed genes, VHv1.1, WHv1.0, and WHv1.6, describes a polydnavirus "cysteine-rich" gene family which may be imp...

Chelonus inanitus (Braconidae) is a solitary egg-larval parasitoid of Spodoptera littoralis (Noctuidae). Along with the egg it also injects polydnaviruses (CiV) and venom, which are prerequisites for successful parasitoid development. CiV protects the parasitoid from encapsulation by the host's immune system and induces a developmental arrest in the prepupal stage. The polydnavirus genome consi...

BACKGROUND When the parasitoid wasp Leptopilina boulardi lays an egg in a Drosophila larva, phagocytic cells called plasmatocytes and specialized cells known as lamellocytes encapsulate the egg. The Drosophila β-integrin Myospheroid (Mys) is necessary for lamellocytes to adhere to the cellular capsule surrounding L. boulardi eggs. Integrins are heterodimeric adhesion receptors consisting of α a...

Broomrapes (Phelipanche/Orobanche spp.) are holoparasitic plants that subsist on the roots of a variety of agricultural crops, establishing direct connections with the host vascular system. This connection allows for the exchange of various substances and a possible exchange of endophytic microorganisms that inhabit the internal tissues of both plants. To shed some light on bacterial interactio...