Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are short, mainly positively charged, amphipathic molecules.
AMPs are important effectors of the immune response in insects with a broad spectrum of …

Bacterial symbionts are widespread in insects and other animals. Most of them are
predominantly vertically transmitted, along with their hosts' genes, and thus extend the …

James A. Shapiro proposes an important new paradigm for understanding biological
evolution, the core organizing principle of biology. Shapiro introduces crucial new molecular …

Heritable microbes represent an important component of the biology, ecology and evolution
of many plants, animals and fungi, acting as both parasites and partners. In this review, we …

Obligate endosymbiosis, in which distantly related species integrate to form a single
replicating individual, represents a major evolutionary transition in individuality,–. Although …

In all stages of their life cycle, insects are threatened by a multitude of predators, parasites,
parasitoids and pathogens. The lifestyles and feeding ecologies of some hymenopteran taxa …

Social insects harbor diverse assemblages of bacterial microbes, which may play a crucial
role in the success or failure of biological invasions. The invasive fire ant Solenopsis invicta …

Honeybees (Apis mellifera) are important economic insects and play important roles in
pollination and maintenance of ecological balance. However, the use of pesticides has …

Many insects rely on intracellular bacterial symbionts to supplement their specialized diets
with micronutrients. Using data from diverse and well-studied insect systems, we propose …

Ant–plant symbioses involve plants that provide hollow structures specialized for housing
ants and often food to ants. In return, the inhabiting ants protect plants against herbivores …