When mutualists are pathogens: an experimental study of the symbioses between Steinernema (entomopathogenic nematodes) and Xenorhabdus (bacteria).

@article{citeulike:1023162, abstract = {In this paper, we investigate the level of specialization of the symbiotic association between an entomopathogenic nematode (Steinernema carpocapsae) and its mutualistic native bacterium (Xenorhabdus nematophila). We made experimental combinations on an insect host where nematodes were associated with non-native symbionts belonging to the same species as the native symbiont, to the same genus or even to a different genus of bacteria. All non-native strains are mutualistically associated with congeneric entomopathogenic nematode species in nature. We show that some of the non-native bacterial strains are pathogenic for S. carpocapsae. When the phylogenetic relationships between the bacterial strains was evaluated, we found a clear negative correlation between the effect a bacterium has on nematode fitness and its phylogenetic distance to the native bacteria of this nematode. Moreover, only symbionts that were phylogenetically closely related to the native bacterial strain were transmitted. These results suggest that co-evolution between the partners has led to a high level of specialization in this mutualism, which effectively prevents horizontal transmission. The pathogenicity of some non-native bacterial strains against S. carpocapsae could result from the incapacity of the nematode to resist specific virulence factors produced by these bacteria.}, address = {Laboratoire G\'{e}nome, Populations, Interactions, Adaptation, Universit\'{e} de Montpellier II, Montpellier, France. sicard@uni-montp2.fr}, author = {Sicard, M. and Ferdy, J. B. and Pag\`{e}s, S. and Le Brun, N. and Godelle, B. and Boemare, N. and Moulia, C. }, citeulike-article-id = {1023162}, doi = {10.1111/j.1420-9101.2004.00748.x}, issn = {1010-061X}, journal = {J Evol Biol}, keywords = {bacteriology, microbiology, mutualism, nematodes, parasitology, pathogenicity, symbiosis}, month = {September}, number = {5}, pages = {985--993}, posted-at = {2007-01-03 10:35:20}, priority = {3}, title = {When mutualists are pathogens: an experimental study of the symbioses between Steinernema (entomopathogenic nematodes) and Xenorhabdus (bacteria).}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1420-9101.2004.00748.x}, volume = {17}, year = {2004} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:1023162 L3 - citeulike-article-id:1023162 TI - When mutualists are pathogens: an experimental study of the symbioses between Steinernema (entomopathogenic nematodes) and Xenorhabdus (bacteria). JF - J Evol Biol VL - 17 IS - 5 SP - 985 EP - 993 AD - Laboratoire Génome, Populations, Interactions, Adaptation, Université de Montpellier II, Montpellier, France. sicard@uni-montp2.fr SN - 1010-061X N2 - In this paper, we investigate the level of specialization of the symbiotic association between an entomopathogenic nematode (Steinernema carpocapsae) and its mutualistic native bacterium (Xenorhabdus nematophila). We made experimental combinations on an insect host where nematodes were associated with non-native symbionts belonging to the same species as the native symbiont, to the same genus or even to a different genus of bacteria. All non-native strains are mutualistically associated with congeneric entomopathogenic nematode species in nature. We show that some of the non-native bacterial strains are pathogenic for S. carpocapsae. When the phylogenetic relationships between the bacterial strains was evaluated, we found a clear negative correlation between the effect a bacterium has on nematode fitness and its phylogenetic distance to the native bacteria of this nematode. Moreover, only symbionts that were phylogenetically closely related to the native bacterial strain were transmitted. These results suggest that co-evolution between the partners has led to a high level of specialization in this mutualism, which effectively prevents horizontal transmission. The pathogenicity of some non-native bacterial strains against S. carpocapsae could result from the incapacity of the nematode to resist specific virulence factors produced by these bacteria. KW - bacteriology KW - microbiology KW - mutualism KW - nematodes KW - parasitology KW - pathogenicity KW - symbiosis AU - Sicard, M AU - Ferdy, JB AU - Pagès, S AU - Le Brun, N AU - Godelle, B AU - Boemare, N AU - Moulia, C PY - 2004/09// UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1420-9101.2004.00748.x ER -