Symbiotic bacteria: From hitchhiker to beetle bodyguard

Bacterial symbionts transition between plant pathogenicity and insect defensive mutualism, a new report demonstrates. The bacterium Burkholderia gladioli lives in specific organs of a plant-feeding beetle and defends the insect ' s eggs from detrimental fungi by producing antibiotics. However, when transferred to a plant, the bacterium can spread throughout the tissues and negatively affect the plant.

Source: ScienceDaily Headlines - April 28, 2017 Category: Science Source Type: news