Abstract
The applied importance of symbiosis has been gaining recognition. The relevance of symbiosis has been increasing in agriculture, in developing sustainable practices, including pest management. Insect symbiotic microorganisms’ taxonomical and functional diversity is high, and so is the potential of manipulation of these microbial partners in suppressing pest populations. These strategies, which rely on functional organisms inhabiting the insect, are intrinsically less susceptible to external environmental variations and hence likely to overcome some of the challenges posed by climate change. Rates of climate change in the Mediterranean Basin are expected to exceed global trends for most variables, and this warming will also affect olive production and impact the interactions of olives and their main pest, the obligate olive fruit fly (Bactrocera oleae). This work summarizes the current knowledge on olive fly symbiotic bacteria towards the potential development of symbiosis-based strategies for olive fruit fly control. Particular emphasis is given to Candidatus Erwinia dacicola, an obligate, vertically transmitted endosymbiont that allows the insect to cope with the olive-plant produced defensive compound oleuropein, as a most promising target for a symbiosis disruption approach.
Highlights
The notion of biological-individual is crucial to all fields of life sciences
Each individual is better seen in the frame of interactive relationships among species, and the individual boundaries are shifting to accommodate a symbiotic view of the organism and of life itself (e.g., [1,2,3])
Bactrocera oleae is no exception, as to understand its evolution and behavior, it is better seen as a group of genetically different entities. It evolved to harbor a vertically transmitted and obligate bacterial symbiont—Candidatus Erwinia dacicola [98] found in different populations of olive fruit fly from several countries [99,100,101]
Summary
The notion of biological-individual is crucial to all fields of life sciences. Each individual is better seen in the frame of interactive relationships among species, and the individual boundaries are shifting to accommodate a symbiotic view of the organism and of life itself (e.g., [1,2,3]). The applied importance of symbiosis has been gaining recognition over time, becoming more relevant in regard to sustainable agriculture practices that can respond to modern challenges. Human population growth and climate change are amongst the most discussed challenges that global agriculture must face, and efficiency and resilience of crop production needs to be improved. Changes in climate variability may be significant, affecting the predictability and amplitude of outbreaks, and the activity and abundance of natural enemies (e.g., [26,27]). Together, this may affect the efficacy of current crop protection technologies, and pest control measures such as host–plant resistance, natural enemies, bio-pesticides and synthetic chemicals are likely to change as a result of climate change. Their study is still in its infancy, and additional research is needed to incorporate such strategies into agricultural practices
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