Vertically transmitted symbionts of arthropods have been implicated in several reproductive manipulations of their hosts. These include cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI), parthenogenesis induction in haplodiploid species (PI), feminization and male killing. One symbiont lineage in the alpha-Proteobacteria, Wolbachia, is the only bacterium known to cause all of these effects, and has been thought...

Where multiple symbionts coexist in the same host, the selective elimination of a specific symbiont may enable the roles of a given symbiont to be investigated. We treated the Mediterranean species of the whitefly Bemisia tabaci complex by oral delivery of the antibiotic rifampicin, and then examined the temporal changes of its primary symbiont "Candidatus Portiera aleyrodidarum" and secondary ...

Mutualism is defined as a beneficial relationship for the associated partners and usually assumes that the symbiont number is controlled. Some trypanosomatid protozoa co-evolve with a bacterial symbiont that divides in coordination with the host in a way that results in its equal distribution between daughter cells. The mechanism that controls this synchrony is largely unknown, and its comprehe...

The termite gut accomplishes key physiologic functions that underlie termite symbiosis and sociality. However, potential candidate functions of the host-symbiont holobiome have not yet been explored across seemingly divergent processes such as digestion, immunity, caste differentiation, and xenobiotic tolerance. This study took a meta-analysis approach for concurrently studying host and symbion...

The majority of bacteria engaged in bioluminescent symbiosis are environmentally acquired and facultatively symbiotic. A few enigmatic bioluminescent symbionts have not been successfully cultured, which has led to speculation that they may be obligately dependent on their hosts. Here, we report the draft genome of the uncultured luminous symbiont of an anomalopid flashlight fish, 'Candidatus Ph...

New work in aphids shows that a nuclear-encoded protein resulting from a horizontal gene transfer is targeted to a bacterial symbiont, further blurring the distinction between organelle and symbiont.

Heritable symbioses can have important ecological effects and have triggered important evolutionary innovations. Current predictions for long-term symbiont prevalence are based on their fitness benefits and vertical transmission rates but ignore nonlinear competitive feedbacks among symbiotic and symbiont-free hosts. We hypothesized that such feedbacks function as stabilizing mechanisms, promot...

Aphids harbour both an obligate bacterial symbiont, Buchnera aphidicola, and a wide range of facultative ones. Facultative symbionts can modify morphological, developmental and physiological host traits that favour their spread within aphid populations. We experimentally investigated the idea that symbionts may also modify aphid behavioural traits to enhance their transmission. Aphids exhibit m...