Macroevolutionary persistence of heritable endosymbionts: acquisition, retention and expression of adaptive phenotypes in Spiroplasma.

Abstract excerpt

The phylogenetic incongruence between insects and their facultative maternally transmitted endosymbionts indicates that these infections are generally short-lived evolutionarily. Therefore, long-term persistence of many endosymbionts must depend on their ability to colonize and spread within new host species. At least 17 species of Drosophila are infected with endosymbiotic Spiroplasma that have various...

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