Horizontal transfer of bacterial symbionts: heritability and fitness effects in a novel aphid host.

ABSTRACT: Members of several bacterial lineages are known only as symbionts of insects and move among hosts through maternal transmission. Such vertical transfer promotes strong fidelity within these associations, favoring the evolution of microbially mediated effects that improve host fitness. However, phylogenetic evidence indicates occasional horizontal transfer among different insect species, suggesting that some microbial symbionts retain a generalized ability to infect multiple hosts. Here we examine the abilities of three vertically transmitted bacteria from the Gammaproteobacteria to infect and spread within a novel host species, the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum. Using microinjection, we transferred symbionts from three species of natural aphid hosts into a common host background, comparin

SUBMITTER: Russell JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1317397 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature