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Symbiont-mediated protection.

Eleanor R Haine¹

¹Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK. e.haine@sheffield.ac.uk

Proceedings. Biological Sciences

|December 7, 2007

Summary

Vertically transmitted symbionts, though costly, are diverse in invertebrates. They may offer protection against natural enemies, significantly impacting host resistance and explaining their persistence.

Area of Science:

Evolutionary ecology
Invertebrate biology
Symbiosis

Background:

Vertically transmitted symbionts are diverse in invertebrates despite resource costs.
Mechanisms for symbiont maintenance, beyond fitness benefits or sex ratio manipulation, remain unclear.
These symbionts interact with hosts and their natural enemies.

Purpose of the Study:

To explore the evolutionary ecology of vertically transmitted symbionts.
To review their impact on host resistance.
To overview evidence for three-way interactions involving symbionts, natural enemies, and invertebrate hosts.

Main Methods:

Literature review of empirical and theoretical studies.
Analysis of symbiont-mediated protection.

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Examination of invertebrate resistance variation.

Main Results:

Vertically transmitted symbionts may protect invertebrate hosts from pathogens.
This 'symbiont-mediated protection' is a potential driver of symbiont persistence.
Symbionts likely contribute to variation in invertebrate resistance.

Conclusions:

Symbiont-mediated protection is a significant factor in invertebrate-symbiont-enemy interactions.
This protection may explain the maintenance of costly symbionts in host lineages.
Further research is needed to fully understand these complex ecological dynamics.