Search results for "MBI"
showing 10 items of 15110 documents
Geometric analysis of intrusive growth of wood fibres in Robinia pseudoacacia
2018
ABSTRACT All cell types of the secondary xylem arise from the meristematic cells (initials) of the vascular cambium and grow under mechanical constraints emerging from the circular-symmetrical geometry that characterises many tree trunks. The course of intrusive growth of cambial initials has been elucidated, but is yet to be described in the case of xylem fibres. This study explains the geometry of intrusive growth of the secondary xylem fibres in the trunk of Robinia pseudoacacia. Long series of serial semi-thin sections of the vascular cambium and the differentiating secondary xylem were analysed. Since fibres grow in close vicinity to expanding cells of the derivatives of the vascular c…
Random Genetic Drift and Selective Pressures Shaping the Blattabacterium Genome
2018
AbstractEstimates suggest that at least half of all extant insect genera harbor obligate bacterial mutualists. Whereas an endosymbiotic relationship imparts many benefits upon host and symbiont alike, the intracellular lifestyle has profound effects on the bacterial genome. The obligate endosymbiont genome is a product of opposing forces: genes important to host survival are maintained through physiological constraint, contrasted by the fixation of deleterious mutations and genome erosion through random genetic drift. The obligate cockroach endosymbiont, Blattabacterium – providing nutritional augmentation to its host in the form of amino acid synthesis – displays radical genome alterations…
Additive effects of temperature and infection with an acanthocephalan parasite on the shredding activity of Gammarus fossarum (Crustacea: Amphipoda):…
2017
10 pages; International audience; Climate change can have critical impacts on the ecological role of keystone species, leading to subsequent alterations within ecosystems. The consequences of climate change may be best predicted by understanding its interaction with the cumulative effects of other stressors, although this approach is rarely adopted. However, whether this interaction is additive or interactive can hardly be predicted from studies examining a single factor at a time. In particular, biotic interactions are known to induce modifications in the functional role of many species. Here, we explored the effect of temperature on leaf consumption by a keystone freshwater shredder, the …
Characterization of the Heme Pocket Structure and ligand binding kinetics of non-symbiotic hemoglobins from the model legume Lotus japonicus
2017
14 Pags.- 6 Figs. This article is part of the Research Topic: Advances in legume research ( http://journal.frontiersin.org/researchtopic/4288/advances-in-legume-research ). Copyright of the Authors through a Creative Commons Attribution License. This Document is Protected by copyright and was first published by Frontiers. All rights reserved. it is reproduced with permission.
Ancient symbiosis confers desiccation resistance to stored grain pest beetles
2017
AbstractMicrobial symbionts of insects provide a range of ecological traits to their hosts that are beneficial in the context of biotic interactions. However, little is known about insect symbiont-mediated adaptation to the abiotic environment, e.g. temperature and humidity. Here we report on an ancient (~400 Mya) clade of intracellular, bacteriome-located Bacteroidetes symbionts that are associated withgrain and wood pest beetles of the phylogenetically distant families Silvanidae and Bostrichidae. In the saw-toothed grain beetle Oryzaephilus surinamensis, we demonstrate that the symbionts affect cuticle thickness, melanization and hydrocarbon profile, enhancing desiccation resistance and …
Angiosperm to Gymnosperm host-plant switch entails shifts in microbiota of the Welwitschia bug, Probergrothius angolensis (Distant, 1902).
2019
The adaptation of herbivorous insects to new host plants is key to their evolutionary success in diverse environments. Many insects are associated with mutualistic gut bacteria that contribute to the host's nutrition and can thereby facilitate dietary switching in polyphagous insects. However, how gut microbial communities differ between populations of the same species that feed on different host plants remains poorly understood. Most species of Pyrrhocoridae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera) are specialist seed-feeders on plants in the family Malvaceae, although populations of one species, Probergrothius angolensis, have switched to the very distantly related Welwitschia mirabilis plant in the Nami…
Methanotrophs are core members of the diazotroph community in decaying Norway spruce logs
2018
Dead wood is initially a nitrogen (N) poor substrate, where the N content increases with decay, partly due to biological N2 fixation, but the drivers of the N accumulation are poorly known. We quantified the rate of N2 fixation in decaying Norway spruce logs of different decay stages and studied the potential regulators of the N2-fixation activity. The average rate for acetylene reduction in the decaying wood was 7.5 nmol ethylene g−1d−1, which corresponds to 52.9 μg N kg−1d−1. The number of nifH copies (g−1 dry matter) was higher at the later decay stages, but no correlation between the copy number and the in vitro N2 fixation rate was found. All recovered nifH sequences were assigned to t…
New Insights on the Evolutionary History of Aphids and Their Primary Endosymbiont Buchnera aphidicola
2011
Since the establishment of the symbiosis between the ancestor of modern aphids and their primary endosymbiont,Buchnera aphidicola, insects and bacteria have coevolved. Due to this parallel evolution, the analysis of bacterial genomic features constitutes a useful tool to understand their evolutionary history. Here we report, based on data fromB. aphidicola, the molecular evolutionary analysis, the phylogenetic relationships among lineages and a comparison of sequence evolutionary rates of symbionts of four aphid species from three subfamilies. Our results support previous hypotheses of divergence ofB. aphidicolaand their host lineages during the early Cretaceous and indicate a closer relati…
Plants and Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi: Cues and Communication in the Early Steps of Symbiotic Interactions
2007
Abstract The ubiquitous nature of arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) pleads for common molecular and genetic determinants across different plant taxa. The cellular processes determining compatibility in early interactions prior to and during cell contact between arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and plant roots are starting to be unraveled. The root epidermis is an active checkpoint where signal exchanges and control over root colonization occur. Root‐secreted flavonoids, flavonols, and strigolactones can act as rhizosphere signals in stimulating presymbiotic fungal growth, although their mechanism of action on the fungal cell is as yet unknown. Likewise, fungal signals (Myc factors) activate early plan…
Next-generation cophylogeny: unravelling eco-evolutionary processes
2021
A fundamental question in evolutionary biology is how microevolutionary processes translate into species diversification. Cophylogeny provides an appropriate framework to address this for symbiotic associations, but historically has been primarily limited to unveiling patterns. We argue that it is essential to integrate advances from ecology and evolutionary biology into cophylogeny, to gain greater mechanistic insights and transform cophylogeny into a platform to advance understanding of interspecific interactions and diversification more widely. We discuss key directions, such as incorporating trait reconstruction and considering multiple scales of network organization, and highlight rece…