Insect heritable symbionts have proven to be ubiquitous, based on molecular screening of
various insect lineages. Recently, molecular and experimental approaches have yielded an …

Aphids engage in symbiotic associations with a diverse assemblage of heritable bacteria. In
addition to their obligate nutrient-provisioning symbiont, Buchnera aphidicola, aphids may …

Background Symbiotic bacteria affect insect physiology and ecology. They may also mediate
insecticide resistance within their hosts and thereby impact pest and vector control practices …

Drosophila melanogaster is emerging as an important model of non-pathogenic host–
microbe interactions. The genetic and experimental tractability of Drosophila has led to …

Aphids are important agricultural pests and also biological models for studies of insect-plant
interactions, symbiosis, virus vectoring, and the developmental causes of extreme …

Aphids are associated with several facultative bacterial endosymbionts that may influence
their interactions with other organisms. We show here that one of the three most common …

Color variation within populations of the pea aphid influences relative susceptibility to
predators and parasites. We have discovered that infection with a facultative endosymbiont …

Bacteriophages are the predominant biological entity on the planet. The recent explosion of
sequence information has made estimates of their diversity possible. We describe the …

Background Recent genomic analyses of arthropod defense mechanisms suggest
conservation of key elements underlying responses to pathogens, parasites and stresses. At …

Natural enemies are important ecological and evolutionary forces, and heritable variation in
resistance to enemies is a prerequisite for adaptive responses of populations. Such variation …