Morphological adaptation for ectosymbiont maintenance and transmission during metamorphosis in Lagria beetles.

ABSTRACT: The diversity and success of holometabolous insects is partly driven by metamorphosis, which allows for the exploitation of different niches and decouples growth and tissue differentiation from reproduction. Despite its benefits, metamorphosis comes with the cost of temporal vulnerability during pupation and challenges associated with tissue reorganizations. These rearrangements can also affect the presence, abundance, and localization of beneficial microbes in the host. However, how symbionts are maintained or translocated during metamorphosis and which adaptations are necessary from each partner during this process remains unknown for the vast majority of symbiotic systems. Here, we show that Lagria beetles circumvent the constraints of metamorphosis by maintaining defensive symbi

SUBMITTER: Janke RS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9468232 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature