Biogeography of a defensive symbiosis

Mutualistic microorganisms play important roles in nutrition, reproduction and defense of many insects, yet the factors contributing to their maintenance and dispersal remain unknown in most cases. Theory suggests that collaboration can be maintained by repeated interaction of the same partners (partner fidelity) or by selective discrimination against non-cooperative partners (partner choice). In the defensive mutualism between solitary beewolf wasps and their antibiotic-producing Streptomyces bacteria, partner choice by host control of vertical symbiont transmission reinforces partner fidelity and has helped to maintain this highly specific association since it originated in the late Cretaceous. However, co-phylogenetic and biogeographic analyses suggest that there has also been considerable horizontal transmission of the symbionts. While the beewolves clearly have a paleotropic or palearctic origin, with later colonization of the nearctic and neotropics via Beringia and the Aves ridge, respectively, the bacteria show only weak geographical clustering, implying global dispersal or vicariance within the confines of an otherwise apparently exclusive symbiotic relationship. We discuss several hypotheses that may explain these patterns. Future studies investigating the occurrence of beewolf symbionts in the environment could yield broadly applicable insights into the relative impact of animal-vectored and free-living dispersal on the distribution of microorganisms in nature.