Although carotenoids serve important biological functions, animals are generally unable to synthesize these pigments and instead obtain them from food. However, many animals, such as sap-feeding insects, may have limited access to carotenoids in their diet, and it was recently shown that aphids have acquired the ability to produce carotenoids by lateral transfer of fungal genes. Whiteflies also...

Cereal aphids, including the bird cherry-oat aphid, Rhopalosiphum padi, and grain Sitobion avenae, can transmit viruses that significantly reduce crop yields. To mitigate against yield losses, insecticides are routinely used to manage aphid populations. Aphids form relationships with endosymbionts confer fitness benefits or consequences aphid. Recent artificial inoculation experiments indicate ...

DNA transfer between host cells and their endosymbionts has had a profound effect on the evolution of eukaryotic cells. A new sequencing study suggests that other forces may be equally important.

Prokaryotic symbionts are common in invertebrates and play an essential metabolic role in deep-sea hydrothermal vent communities. Complete genome sequences of bacterial endosymbionts of two deep-sea clams are providing new insights into evolutionary genome reduction.

"Candidatus Berkiella cookevillensis" and "Candidatus Berkiella aquae" are obligate intranuclear endosymbionts of freshwater amoebae. Here, we present the draft genome sequences of these two bacteria, with total sizes of 2,990,361 bp and 3,626,027 bp, respectively.

Wolbachia spp. are intracellular endosymbionts that cause reproductive alterations in their hosts. We here demonstrate the coexistence (superinfection) of both the arthropodand the filarial-infecting strain in a sample of Tunga penetrans (L.) from Ecuador.

Instead of zoochlorella endosymbionts, magnetic micro-beads (Dynabeads) was microinjected into P. bursaria white strain which can resultantly response to magnetism. The system may provide an interesting artificial endosymbiosis system.