Heritable symbiont producing nonribosomal peptide confers extreme heat sensitivity and antifungal protection on its host.

ABSTRACT: Insects frequently form associations with maternally transmitted symbiotic bacteria. This transmission mode ensures that symbiont-conferred effects, both beneficial and negative, are passed onto offspring. Here, we report an extreme example of symbiont-mediated temperature sensitivity imposed by a vertically transmitted, defensive symbiont. Pea aphids infected with the bacterial endosymbiont, Fukatsuia symbiotica, resist infection by fungal pathogens but produce few or no offspring when moved from cool (15 °C) to mildly warmer temperatures (20 °C). This temperature-dependent reduction in host fitness is associated with increased symbiont abundance, disordered symbiont localization, and high expression of a horizontally acquired nonribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) locus. This NRPS

SUBMITTER: Maeda GP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12232616 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature