Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Oliver KM
PROVIDER: S-EPMC5473335 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Aug
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Oliver Kerry M KM Degnan Patrick H PH Hunter Martha S MS Moran Nancy A NA
Science (New York, N.Y.) 20090801 5943
Bacteriophages are known to carry key virulence factors for pathogenic bacteria, but their roles in symbiotic bacteria are less well understood. The heritable symbiont Hamiltonella defensa protects the aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum from attack by the parasitoid Aphidius ervi by killing developing wasp larvae. In a controlled genetic background, we show that a toxin-encoding bacteriophage is required to produce the protective phenotype. Phage loss occurs repeatedly in laboratory-held H. defensa-infec ...[more]