Many insects, on account of their unbalanced diet, live in obligate symbiotic associations
with microorganisms (bacteria or yeast-like symbionts), which provide them with substances …

An evolutionary consequence of uniparentally transmitted symbiosis is degradation of
symbiont genomes. We use the system of aphids and their maternally inherited obligate …

Aphids are emerging as model organisms for both basic and applied research. Of the 5,000
estimated species, only three aphids have published whole genome sequences: the pea …

Abstract Background The Russian wheat aphid, Diuraphis noxia Kurdjumov, is one of the
most important pests of small grains throughout the temperate regions of the world. This …

Symbiotic interactions between organisms create new ecological niches. For example, many
insects survive on plant-sap with the aid of maternally transmitted bacterial symbionts that …

Insects can establish a variety of symbiotic associations with bacteria that can have a
significant impact on their evolutionary ecology. Some bacterial lineages are particularly …

Virtually all aphids (Aphididae) harbor Buchnera aphidicola as an obligate endosymbiont to
compensate nutritional deficiencies arising from their phloem diet. Many species within the …

The family Polydnaviridae is of interest because it provides the best example of viruses that
have evolved a mutualistic association with their animal hosts. Polydnaviruses in the genus …

Aphids are a large family of phloem-sap feeders. They typically rely on a single bacterial
endosymbiont, Buchnera aphidicola, to supply them with essential nutrients lacking in their …

The adelgids (Adelgidae) are a small family of sap-feeding insects, which, together with true
aphids (Aphididae) and phylloxerans (Phylloxeridae), make up the infraorder …