Abstract
AbstractParasites and pathogens are crucial in shaping immune systems. Many animals and especially insects have outsourced part of their immune function to protective symbionts. There is good evidence that, akin to immune systems, parasites shape the occurrence and diversity of protective symbionts and that likewise, protective symbionts can shape the occurrence and diversity of parasites. Such a relationship should result in a correlation between symbiont and parasite diversity in nature. Aphids are well known for possessing symbionts that provide specific and effective protection against parasitoid wasps. We compared symbiont and parasitoid diversity across multiple populations of different aphid species of the genus Aphis and their parasitoid wasps. The diversity of protective symbionts and parasitoids was indeed positively associated. Even though this association was very noisy, it is in line with the hypothesis that parasitoids and symbionts promote each other’s diversity.
Highlights
Many animals, especially insects, harbor protective symbionts
Study system In this study, we focus on four different aphid species and two subspecies of the genus Aphis: Aphis fabae fabae, Aphis fabae cirsiiacanthoides, Aphis hederae, Aphis ruborum, and Aphis urticata
Primary parasitoid diversity had a significant effect on protective symbiont (H. defensa, R. insecticola, S. symbiotica, and F. symbiotica) diversity in our models, albeit this relationship was very noisy (Figure 1A,B)
Summary
Such symbionts can provide effective and specific protection against parasites and pathogens (Oliver et al 2014, Florez et al 2015, Vorburger and Perlman 2018); they take over part of the immune system’s role. At least nine species of heritable facultative symbionts have been found in aphids, seven of which have been shown to confer some protection against entomopathogenic fungi or parasitoids (reviewed by Guo et al 2017). They tend to occur at intermediate frequencies in natural populations, vary within and between aphids species, and can co-occur within the same population or even individual (Russell et al 2013, Vorburger and Rouchet 2016)
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