Culture and manipulation of insect facultative symbionts

Insects from many different taxonomic groups harbor maternally transmitted bacterial symbionts. Some of these associations are ancient in origin and obligate in nature whereas others originated more recently and are facultative. Previous research focused on the biology of ancient obligate symbionts with essential nutritional roles in their insect hosts. However, recent important advances in understanding the biology of facultative associations have been driven by the development of techniques for the culture, genetic modification and manipulation of facultative symbionts. In this review, we examine these available experimental techniques and illustrate how they have provided fascinating new insight into the nature of associations involving facultative symbionts. We also propose a rationale for future research based on the integration of genomics and experimentation.