Department of Entomology, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721-0036, USA.
Ecol Lett. 2010 Feb;13(2):223-34. doi: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2009.01416.x. Epub 2009 Dec 10.
Endosymbiosis is a pervasive, powerful force in arthropod evolution. In the recent literature, bacterial symbionts of insects have been shown to function as reproductive manipulators, nutritional mutualists and as defenders of their hosts. Fungi, like bacteria, are also frequently associated with insects. Initial estimates suggest that insect-fungal endosymbionts are hyperdiverse, yet there has been comparatively little research investigating the roles that fungi play in their insect hosts. In many systems in which the bacterial symbionts are well-characterized, the possible presence of fungi has been routinely ignored. Why has there been so little research on this important group of symbionts? Here, we explore the differences between fungal and bacterial endosymbiotic insect mutualists. We make predictions about why a bacterium or fungus might be found associated with an insect host given particular ecological, physiological, or evolutionary conditions. We also touch on the various hurdles for studying fungal vs. bacterial endosymbionts and potential future research directions.
共生是节肢动物进化中普遍存在且强大的力量。在最近的文献中，昆虫的细菌共生体被证明具有生殖操纵、营养互惠和宿主防御等功能。与细菌一样，真菌也经常与昆虫有关。初步估计表明，昆虫-真菌共生体具有高度多样性，但对真菌在昆虫宿主中所扮演的角色的研究相对较少。在许多细菌共生体特征良好的系统中，真菌的存在通常被忽视。为什么对这组重要的共生体的研究如此之少？在这里，我们探讨了真菌和细菌内共生昆虫共生体之间的差异。我们根据特定的生态、生理或进化条件，对细菌或真菌与昆虫宿主相关的原因做出预测。我们还触及了研究真菌与细菌内共生体的各种障碍以及潜在的未来研究方向。
