Symbiotic bacteria: From hitchhiker to beetle bodyguard

(Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet Mainz) An international team of researchers have discovered a remarkable microbe with a Jekyll and Hyde character. 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: EurekAlert! - Biology - Category: Biology Source Type: news
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