All insects are colonized by microorganisms on the insect exoskeleton, in the gut and
hemocoel, and within insect cells. The insect microbiota is generally different from …

Animal hosts have initiated myriad symbiotic associations with microorganisms and often
have maintained these symbioses for millions of years, spanning drastic changes in …

For over 300 million years, insects have relied on symbiotic microbes for nutrition and
defence. However, it is unclear whether specific ecological conditions have repeatedly …

Many eukaryotes have obligate associations with microorganisms that are transmitted
directly between generations. A model for heritable symbiosis is the association of aphids, a …

Nutritional symbionts play a major role in the ecology and evolution of insects. The recent
accumulation of knowledge on the identity, function, genomics, and phylogenetic …

Starting in 2006, surprisingly tiny genomes have been discovered from numerous bacterial
symbionts of insect hosts. Despite their size, each retains some genes that enable …

Many insects rely on bacterial symbionts with tiny genomes specialized for provisioning
nutrients lacking in host diets. Xylem sap and phloem sap are both deficient as insect diets …

Diverse insects are associated with ancient bacterial symbionts, whose genomes have often
suffered drastic reduction and degeneration. In extreme cases, such symbiont genomes …

Stable endosymbiosis of a bacterium into a host cell promotes cellular and genomic
complexity. The mealybug Planococcus citri has two bacterial endosymbionts with an …

Bacteriocytes are host cells specialized to harbor symbionts in certain insect taxa. The
adaptation, development, and evolution of bacteriocytes underlie insect symbiosis …