Journal article
Facultative bacterial symbionts in aphids confer resistance to parasitic wasps
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, v 100(4), pp 1803-1807
18 Feb 2003
PMID: 12563031
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Symbiotic relationships between animals and microorganisms are common in nature, yet the factors controlling the abundance and distributions of symbionts are mostly unknown. Aphids have an obligate association with the bacterium
Buchnera aphidicola
(the primary symbiont) that has been shown to contribute directly to aphid fitness. In addition, aphids sometimes harbor other vertically transmitted bacteria (secondary symbionts), for which few benefits of infection have been previously documented. We carried out experiments to determine the consequences of these facultative symbioses in
Acyrthosiphon pisum
(the pea aphid) for vulnerability of the aphid host to a hymenopteran parasitoid,
Aphidius ervi
, a major natural enemy in field populations. Our results show that, in a controlled genetic background, infection confers resistance to parasitoid attack by causing high mortality of developing parasitoid larvae. Compared with uninfected controls, experimentally infected aphids were as likely to be attacked by ovipositing parasitoids but less likely to support parasitoid development. This strong interaction between a symbiotic bacterium and a host natural enemy provides a mechanism for the persistence and spread of symbiotic bacteria.
Metrics
Details
- Title
- Facultative bacterial symbionts in aphids confer resistance to parasitic wasps
- Creators
- Kerry M Oliver - Departments ofJacob A Russell - Departments ofNancy A Moran - Departments ofMartha S Hunter - Departments of
- Publication Details
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, v 100(4), pp 1803-1807
- Publisher
- The National Academy of Sciences
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Biology
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000181073000066
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-0037452704
- Other Identifier
- 991014878549104721
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:
InCites Highlights
Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:
- Web of Science research areas
- Entomology