Insect-microbe mutualism without vertical transmission: a stinkbug acquires a beneficial gut symbiont from the environment every generation.

ABSTRACT: The broad-headed bug Riptortus clavatus (Heteroptera: Alydidae) possesses a number of crypts at a posterior midgut region, which house a dense population of a bacterial symbiont belonging to the genus Burkholderia. Although the symbiont is highly prevalent (95 to 100%) in the host populations, the symbiont phylogeny did not reflect the host systematics at all. In order to understand the mechanisms underlying the promiscuous host-symbiont relationship despite the specific and prevalent association, we investigated the transmission mode and the fitness effects of the Burkholderia symbiont in R. clavatus. Inspection of eggs and a series of rearing experiments revealed that the symbiont is not vertically transmitted but is environmentally acquired by nymphal insects. The Burkholderia symbiont

SUBMITTER: Kikuchi Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1932760 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature