Transitional genomes and nutritional role reversals identified for dual symbionts of adelgids (Aphidoidea: Adelgidae).

ABSTRACT: Many plant-sap-feeding insects have maintained a single, obligate, nutritional symbiont over the long history of their lineage. This senior symbiont may be joined by one or more junior symbionts that compensate for gaps in function incurred through genome-degradative forces. Adelgids are sap-sucking insects that feed solely on conifer trees and follow complex life cycles in which the diet fluctuates in nutrient levels. Adelgids are unusual in that both senior and junior symbionts appear to have been replaced repeatedly over their evolutionary history. Genomes can provide clues to understanding symbiont replacements, but only the dual symbionts of hemlock adelgids have been examined thus far. Here, we sequence and compare genomes of four additional dual-symbiont pairs in adelgids. We show t

SUBMITTER: Dial DT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8857208 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature